Thursday, June 5, 2008

Blu-Ray Awareness on the Rise Again


It seems that Blu-Ray may be getting more recognition from the consumer base, but that doesn't mean that they're all buying. According to 'Video Business' a new survey released from the NPD Group states that 45% of HDTV owners are aware of the Blu-Ray format. That number is up from just 35% of HDTV viewers surveyed last June.

On the down side, only 6% of all respondants to the survey stated they would be purchasing a Blu-Ray player within the next six months. However, 9% did say that they wanted to buy a Blu-Ray player.

"With HDTVs now in almost 4 million U.S. households, that [9%] translates to a pool of almost 4 million potential Blu-ray player buyers," said Russ Crupnick, NPD entertainment industry analyst. The survey also indicated that once consumers switch to 1080p, they usually don't go back to standard too often. The survey stated that, among Blu-Ray set-top owners, 80% of their future software purchases will be in Blu-Ray rather than standard.
"The door is open for studios to feed consumers' appetite for Blu-ray content, and we expect sales to increase, as prices for hardware and software moderate in the coming months," said Crupnick. "Even so, it will take a concerted effort by manufacturers and retailers to ratchet awareness even further and convince all of those potential buyers of the superiority of Blu-ray Disc versus standard DVD."

Among the reasons for consumers going Blu were, ""leading-edge technology"and a "superior viewing experience," the report stated.

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