Nielsen/VideoScan sales ratios and Top 5

[Grubert]

Week ending July 8, 2007
Week: 66/34 BD/HD
Year: 67/33 BD/HD
SI: 60/40 BD/HD

What does that mean?

Week: During the week ending on the date shown above, of every 100 hidef disc units sold, 66 were
Blu-ray and 34 HD DVD.
YTD (year-to-date): in the period from Jan 1, 2007, of every 100 hidef disc units sold, 67 were Blu-ray and 33 HD DVD.
SI (since inception): since the inception of both formats (April 2006 to the date shown above), of every 100 hidef disc units sold, 60 were Blu-ray and 40 HD DVD.

Relative sales of dual-format simultaneous new releases

It has been argued that the sales of exclusive titles don't tell us much about the format war, and that we should look at the relative sales of titles that get released on both formats.

Date      Title                     BD/HD Source
092606  The Lake House              1.27  NV03
103106  Mission Impossible III      0.99  HMM05
110706  Nacho Libre                 1.19  NV03
112806  Ant Bully                   0.62  NV03
        Superman Returns            1.14  HMM05
121206  World Trade Center          1.12  NV03
121906  Lady in the Water           1.05  NV03
013007  The Wicker Man              1.43  NV03
021307  The Departed                1.64  HMM06
022007  Babel                       1.14  HMM05
032707  Happy Feet                  1.65  HMM06
042407  Planet Earth                0.72  HMM06
050107  Dreamgirls                  1.53  NVRW
051507  The Fountain                1.50  NVRW
052207  Flags of Our Fathers        1.39  NVRW
        Letters from Iwo Jima       1.21  NVRW
060507  Norbit                      2.04  NVRW
062607  Black Snake Moan            1.56  NVRW+1

HMM05: Data by Home Media Magazine as of May 27, 2007
HMM06: Data by Home Media Magazine as of June 24, 2007
NV03: Data from Nielsen VideoScan as of March 18, 2007
NVRW: Data based on release week Nielsen VideoScan figures
NWRW+1: Data based on week after release, Nielsen VideoScan figures


Historical BD/HD DVD percentages

Day      Week         YTD         SI
01/07  63.3/36.7   63.3/36.7   41.2/58.8
01/14  68.2/31.8   65.7/34.3   43.2/56.8
01/21  67.8/32.2   66.4/33.6   45.1/54.9
01/28  68.8/31.2   67.0/33.0   46.7/53.3
02/04  69.0/31.0   67.4/32.6   48.1/51.9      
02/11  69.6/30.4   67.7/32.3   49.3/50.7
02/18  65.0/35.0   67.4/32.6   50.3/49.7
02/25  68.5/31.5   67.4/32.6   51.5/48.5
03/04  65.7/34.3   67.2/32.8   52.2/47.8
03/11  68.7/31.3   67.9/32.1   52.8/47.2
03/18  81.7/18.3   69.2/30.8   54.3/45.7
03/25     n/a      70.4/29.6   55.6/44.4
04/01     n/a      69.9/30.1   56.2/43.8
04/08  62.4/37.6   69.4/30.6   56.4/43.6 
04/15    61/39       69/31       57/43 
04/22    52/48       68/32       57/43
04/29    71/29       68/32       58/42
05/06    60/40       68/32       57/43
05/13    62/38       68/32       57/43
05/20    58/42       67/33       57/43
05/27    69/31       67/33       58/42
06/03    61/39       67/33       59/41
06/10    66/34       67/33       59/41
06/17    64/36       67/33       59/41
06/24    70/30       67/33       59/41
07/01    65/35       67/33       60/40
07/08    66/34       67/33       60/40

Important update: April 6, 2007 Sony released to the media a report tracking weekly sales of high-definition packaged media - both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc - from 10/1/06 through the week ending 3/18/07. The report, entitled Next Generation Disc Tracking Report, was prepared with sales figures from Nielsen VideoScan. It's the first such detailed sales data we've really seen, featuring graphical breakdowns by format, title and studio. The document has been posted in its entirety on thedigitalbits, with permission by Sony. Unfortunately it now has been pulled down.

In 2007, Home Media Magazine has begun publishing Blu-ray vs HD DVD sales information. To access the magazine, scroll down the page. On the left you'll see a box entitled "This Week's Digital Edition", and underneath the text "Read It Now! Click Here". Click that.

The information consists of relative percentages between BD and HD DVD, weekly, year-to-date and "since inception", as well as the weekly top 5 for BD and HD DVD, and their relative sales within each format.

This information has been combined with that feature on the following articles on PC Magazine:

Making Sense of the High-Def DVD Numbers (posted February 9)

Blu-ray Clearly Leading in Next-Gen DVD Sales (posted March 16)

Additionally, Home Media Magazine has posted a summary of Blu-ray and HD DVD sales in the first quarter of 2007 on this article: Blu-ray Wins Q1

Historical data



Important notes: the data for the weeks ended Jan 7 and Jan 14 did not include HD DVD combo sales. The data before April 8 didn't include weekly percentages and were expressed somewhat differently.
Week ending March 25, 2007
YTD: BD 100/ HD DVD 42.13
SI: BD 100/ HD DVD 79.77

Week ending March 18, 2007
YTD: BD 100/ HD DVD 44.44
SI: BD 100/ HD DVD 84.07

Week ending March 11, 2007
YTD: BD 100/ HD DVD 47.37
SI: BD 100/ HD DVD 89.25

Week ending March 4, 2007
YTD BD 100.00 HD DVD 48.73
SI BD 100.00 HD DVD 91.46

Week ending February 25, 2007
YTD BD 100.00 HD DVD 48.30
SI BD 100.00 HD DVD 94.25

Week ending February 18, 2007
YTD BD 100.00 HD DVD 48.43
SI BD 100.00 HD DVD 98.71

Week ended February 11
YTD BD 100.00 HD 47.62
SI BD 97.08 HD 100.00

Week ended February 4
YTD: BD 100.00 HD 48.38
SI: BD 92.56 HD 100.00

Week ended January 28
YTD: BD 100.00 HD 49.21
SI: BD 87.76 HD 100.00

Week ended January 21
YTD: BD 100.00/ HD DVD 50.51
SI: BD 82.3/ HD DVD 100.00

Week ended January 14
YTD: BD 100.00/ HD 38.36
SI: BD 92.40/ HD 100.00

Week ended January 7
YTD: BD 100.00/ HD 47.14
SI: BD 85.05/ HD 100.00


Thanks to Stephanie Prange of Home Media Magazine and Mark Hachman of PC Magazine for their continued followup information beyond the call of duty.

A listing of retailers reporting to Nielsen VideoScan can be found here.


Actual sales figures

The percentages published weekly don't give us actual unit sales. However, some more specific information has been released during 2007:

1. Nielsen VideoScan report up to March 18

Sales in 2006: 297,041 Blu-ray/462,562 HD DVD
Sales since inception to March 18 sales: 846,771 Blu-ray/712,013 HD DVD
(data from Nielsen VideoScan)

2. HMM article, Blu-ray wins Q1

Sales between Jan. 1 and March 31: 832,530 Blu-ray/359,300 HD DVDs
Since inception to March 31, 2007: 1.2 million Blu-ray/937,500 HD DVDs.
March: 335,980 Blu-ray; 119,570 HD DVDs.
(data from HMM market research)

2. HMM special issue, Hollywood goes hi-def

Sales since inception to May 27, 2007: 1,637,090 Blu-ray/1,192,410 HD DVD
(data from HMM market research)

[Grubert]

Week ending July 8, 2007

Top 10 hidef sellers

1. Ghost Rider BD 100.00
2. PotC: DMC BD 90.46
3. Planet Earth BD 82.35
4. The Patriot BD 82.30
5. PotC: CotBP BD 80.00
6. Apocalypto BD 75.26
7. Casino Royale BD 75.05
8. Bridge to Terabithia BD 73.83
9. Blood Diamond HD 70.10
10. Planet Earth HD 56.94

xx Black Snake Moan BD 46.38
xx Batman Begins HD 37.65
xx Untouchables HD 31.63
xx Blood Diamond BD 29.75
xx Black Snake Moan HD 29.74

Week ending June 24, 2007

Top 10 hidef sellers

1 (1) Ghost Rider BD 100.00
2 (-) Bridge to Terabithia BD 84.65
3 (8) Casino Royale BD 59.46
4 (2) Planet Earth HD 43.03
5 (4) Apocalypto BD 35.65
6 (5) PotC DMC BD 34.14
7 (6) Planet Earth BD 33.51
8 (7) PotC CBP BD 28.53
9 (-) Open Season BD 23.10
10 (3) Breach 22.71

xx Letters from Iwo Jima BD 14.80
xx Batman Begins HD 13.50
xx Letters from Iwo Jima HD 10.96
xx Complete Matrix Trilogy HD 9.01


Week ending June 17, 2007


1 (-) Ghost Rider BD 100.00
2 (4) Planet Earth HDDVD 26.72
3 (-) Breach HDDVD 21.19
4 (1) Apocalypto BD 13.69
5 (2) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BD 13.60
6 (7) Planet Earth BD 13.12
7 (3) Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl BD 11.34
8 (9) Casino Royale BD 10.05
9 (6) Blood Diamond BD 6.71
10 (-) Primeval BD 6.69

xx Letters from Iwo Jima BD 6.49
xx Batman Begins HDDVD 6.33
xx Flags of Our Fathers HDDVD 5.88
xx Letters from Iwo Jima HDDVD 5.77
xx Flags of Our Fathers BD 4.92


Week ending June 10, 2007

1 (3) Apocalypto (BD) 100
2 (1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (BD) 98.55
3 (2) Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (BD) 84.33
4 (4) Planet Earth HD DVD 82.27
5 (-) Norbit BD 77.78
6 (-) Blood Diamond BD 74.95
7 (7) Planet Earth BD 62.17
8 (-) The Messengers BD 51.05
9 (10) Casino Royale BD 44.44
10 (9) Letters from Iwo Jima BD 38.65

xx Norbit HD DVD 38.18
xx Ultimate Matrix Collection HD DVD 27.53
xx Letters from Iwo Jima HD DVD 26.05
xx Complete Matrix Trilogy HD DVD 24.11

Week ending June 3, 2007

Top 10 high-def sellers

1 (1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (BD) 100.00
2 (2) Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (BD) 84.63
3 (3) Apocalypto (BD) 82.92
4 (8) Planet Earth (HD) 41.26
5 (5) Letters from Iwo Jima (BD) 33.23
6 (4) Ultimate Matrix (HD) 30.19
7 (8) Planet Earth (BD) 28.97
8 (6) Complete Matrix (HD) 28.21
9 (7) Letters from Iwo Jima (HD) 27.48
10 (9) Casino Royale (BD) 24.30

xx Flags of Our Fathers (BD) 18.51
xx Curse of the Golden Flower (BD) 18.11
xx Flags of Our Fathers (HD) 17.49


Aggregate by Title
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 100.00
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: curse of the Black Pearl 84.63
3. Apocalypto 82.92
4. Planet Earth 71.45
5. Letters from Iwo Jima 60.70
6. Flags of Our Fathers 35.90
7. Ultimate Matrix Collection 30.19
8. Complete Matrix Trilogy 28.21
9. Casino Royale 24.30
10. Curse of the Golden Flower 18.11


Week ending May 27, 2007

Top 20 YTD through 5/27. Where applicable disaggregated sales are included in brackets (BD+HD DVD).

1. The Departed 100,500 (62,700+37,800)
2. Casino Royale 83,600
3. Planet Earth 44,700 (19,300+25,400)
4. Happy Feet 40,100 (25,500+14,600)
5. The Prestige 34,700
6. Superman Returns 34,100 (22,600+11,500)
7. Night at the Museum 28,100
8. Babel 27,000 (14,400+12,600)
9. Batman Begins 25,900
10. Crank 24,800
11. PotC: Dead Man's Chest 23,700
12. Goodfellas 23,300 (12,100+11,200)
13. Mission: Impossible III 22,900 (13,100+9,800)
14. Déjà Vu 22,700
15. Black Hawk Down 21,600
16. PotC: Curse Black Pearl 21,100
17. The Fifth Element 20,900
18. Saw III 20,400
19. Underworld: Evolution 19,100
20. Rocky Balboa 18,600

Top 20 SI through 5/27. Where applicable disaggregated sales are included in brackets (BD+HD DVD).

1. The Departed 100,500 (62,700+37,800)
2. Superman Returns 84,100 (44,800+39,300)
3. Casino Royale 83,600
4. Batman Begins 53,500
5. Mission Impossible III 51,300 (25,500+25,800)
6. Planet Earth 44,700 (19,300+25,400)
7. Happy Feet 40,100 (25,500+14,600)
8. Goodfellas 38,200 (12,100+26,100)
9. The Prestige 34,700
10. The Fifth Element 33,800
11. The Last Samurai 32,500 (10,100+22,400)
12. X-Men: The Last Stand 32,000
13. Underworld: Evolution 31,400
14. Ice Age: The Meltdown 28,300
15. Night at the Museum 28,100
16. Black Hawk Down 27,900
17. Talladega Nights 27,700
18. Babel 27,700 (14,400+12,600)
19. Serenity 26,200
20. Troy 26,100



Top 10 high-def sellers
1 POTC: Dead Man's Chest BD 100.00
2 POTC: Black Pearl BD 89.35
3 Apocalypto BD 73.73
4 Ultimate Matrix Coll HD 33.28
5 Letters from Iwo Jima BD 26.68
6 Complete Matrix Coll HD 25.88
7 Letters from Iwo Jima HD 22.06
8 Planet Earth HD 17.55
9 Casino Royale BD 13.64
10 Flags of our Fathers BD 11.86
xx Planet Earth BD 11.57*
yy Flags of our Fathers HD 8.54*

* Deduced from other data released.

Top 10 high-def sellers (Aggregate by title)**
1 POTC: Dead Man's Chest BD 100.00
2 POTC: Black Pearl BD 89.35
3 Apocalypto BD 73.73
4 Letters from Iwo Jima BD&HD 48.74
5 Ultimate Matrix Coll HD 33.28
6 Planet Earth BD&HD 29.12
7 Complete Matrix Coll HD 25.88
8 Flags of our Fathers BD&HD 20.40
9 Casino Royale BD 13.64
10 The Fountain BD&HD 13.40

**Combined sales of dual-format releases


Week ending May 20, 2007

Top 10 hidef sellers

1 (-) The Fountain BD 100.00
2 (1) Planet Earth HD 84.89
3 (-) The Fountain HD 66.64
4 (2) Planet Earth BD 61.80
5 (-) Stomp the Yard BD 50.01
6 (5) Casino Royale BD 41.61
7 (3) Night at the Museum BD 38.23
8 (4) Deja Vu BD 34.96
9 (-) Digital Video Essentials HD 23.70
10 (-) Batman Begins HD 23.52

Top 5 BD
1. The Fountain 100.00
2. Planet Earth 61.80
3. Stomp the Yard 50.01
4. Casino Royale 41.61
5. Night at the Museum 38.23

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Planet Earth 100.00
2. The Fountain 78.50
3. Digital Video Essentials 27.92
4. Batman Begins 27.70
5. Smokin' Aces 24.95


Week ending May 13, 2007

1. (1) Planet Earth HD DVD 100.00
2. (2) Planet Earth BD 66.03
3. (3) Night at the Museum BD 49.43
4. (4) Deja Vu BD 46.45
5. (7) Casino Royale BD 41.66
6. (5) Dreamgirls BD 31.21
7. (9) Smokin' Aces HD DVD 20.41
8. (6) Dreamgirls HD DVD 18.20
9. (-) Happy Feet BD 17.37
10. (-) The Departed BD 17.20

Top 5 BD
1. Planet Earth 100.00
2. Night at the Museum 74.86
3. Deja Vu 70.34
4. Casino Royale 63.10
5. Dreamgirls 47.26

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Planet Earth 100.00
2. Smokin' Aces 20.41
3. Dreamgirls 18.20
4. Alpha Dog 14.58
5. Batman Begins 14.46


Week ending May 6, 2007

Top 10 hidef sellers
1. Planet Earth HD DVD 100
2. Planet Earth BD 95.07
3. Night at the Museum BD 78.28
4. Deja Vu BD 68.84
5. Dreamgirls BD 67.59
6. Dreamgirls HD 44.17
7. Casino Royale BD 33.32
8. Alpha Dog HD DVD 28.91
9. Smokin' Aces HD DVD 24.42
10. Digital Video Essentials HD DVD 23.78

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Planet Earth 100
2. Dreamgirls 44.17
3. Alpha Dog 28.91
4. Smokin' Aces 24.42
5. Digital Video Essentials 23.78

Top 5 BD
1. Planet Earth 100.00
2. Night at the Museum 82.34
3. Deja Vu 72.41
4. Dreamgirls 71.09
5. Casino Royale 33.05


Week ending April 29, 2007
This was the first week where a "High-def sellers" list was published

High-def Sellers
1. Night at the Museum BD 100.00
2. Deja Vu BD 75.04
3. Planet Earth HD DVD 32.78
4. Planet Earth BD 24.14
5. The Queen BD 17.29
6. Smokin' Aces HD DVD 17.24
7. Casino Royale BD 14.33
8. Happy Feet BD 7.19
9. Black Hawk Down BD 7.05
10. The Departed BD 5.82

Top 5 BD
1. Night at the Museum 100.00
2. Deja Vu 75.04
3. Planet Earth 24.14
4. The Queen 17.29
5. Casino Royale 14.33

Top 5 HD-DVD
1. Planet Earth 100.00
2. Smokin' Aces 52.60
3. Digital Video Essentials 16.47
4. Batman Begins 13.98
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 13.00


Week ending April 22, 2007

Top 5 BD

1. Casino Royale 100.00
2. Happy Feet 50.60
3. The Departed 36.57
4. The Pursuit of Happyness 33.85
5. The Prestige 29.43

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Smokin' Aces 100.00
2. Batman Begins 14.79
3. The Good Shepherd 10.83
4. Children of Men 9.57
5. Happy Feet 9.34


Week ending April 8, 2007

Top 5 BD

1. Casino Royale 100.00
2. Happy Feet 93.99
3. The Pursuit of Happyness 65.80
4. Rocky Balboa 31.21
5. Eragon 29.87

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Good Shepherd 100.00
2. Happy Feet 55.18
3. Children of Men 41.69
4. Batman Begins 30.91
5. The Departed 23.82

Week ended March 25, 2007

Top 5 BD
1 Casino Royale 100.00
2. Rocky Balboa 62.66
3. Eragon 57.72
4. The Departed 19.73
5. The Prestige 9.48

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. Batman Begins 69.69
3. Babel 54.55
4. Troy 50.26
5. Goodfellas 38.45


Week ended March 18, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. Casino Royale 100.00
2. The Departed 10.83
3. The Prestige 6.02
4. The Holiday 5.20
5. Layer Cake 4.26

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. Batman Begins 55.96
3. Babel 50.75
4. Clerks II 43.33
5. Troy 38.36

Week ended March 11, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. The Prestige 67.62
3. Babel 35.84
4. Stranger than Fiction 32.49
5. Black Hawk Down 24.25

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. Babel 44.24
3. Batman Begins 36.10
4. Troy 23.17
5. Goodfellas 18.23


Week ended March 4, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. The Prestige 81.40
3. Stranger than Fiction 47.82
4. Babel. 35.04
5. Superman Returns 18.31

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. Babel 45.07
3. Batman Begins 27.17
4. Troy 15.01
5. Goodfellas 13.95

Week ended February 25, 2007

Top 5 BD
1 The Prestige 100.00
2. The Departed 73.67
3. Babel 36.31
4. Open Season 9.42
5. Superman Returns 9.33

Top 5 HD DVD
1. The Departed 100.00
2. Babel 61.41
3. Batman Begins 21.69
4. Lucky Number Slevin 14.59
5. Troy 11.84

Week ended February 11, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. The Fifth Element 100.00
2. Underworld Evolution 92.76
3. Open Season 83.69
4. Saw III 77.28
5. Into the Blue 71.60

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Batman Begins 100.00
2. Lucky Number Slevin 78.08
3. Troy 56.17
4. Goodfellas 47.63
5. Miami Vice 46.96

Week ended February 4, 2007

Top 5 BD
1 Open Season 100.00
2 Flyboys 83.94
3 Saw III 66.72
4 The Guardian 44.12
5 The Fifth Element 33.55

Top 5 HD DVD
1 Batman Begins 100.00
2 Troy 48.95
3 Superman Returns 45.90
4 V for Vendetta 42.41
5 Lucky Number Slevin 41.71

Week ended January 28, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. Saw III 100.00
2. The Guardian 56.63
3. Crank 20.50
4. Saw II 17.00
5. Superman Returns 16.63

Top 5 HD
1. Batman Begins 100.00
2. Clerks II 69.30
3. Lucky Number Slevin 66.92
4. Superman Returns 54.11
5. The Mummy Returns 48.26


Week ended January 21, 2007

Top 5 BD
1. Crank 100.00
2. Gridiron Gang 96.88
3. Black Hawk Down 92.35
4. Underworld: Evolution 84.46
5. Employee of the Month 71.86

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Clerks II 100.00
2. Batman Begins 90.04
3. The Mummy Returns 87.67
4. Lucky Number Slevin 72.84
5. Troy 45.61


Week ended Jan 14

Top 5 BD
1. Crank 100
2. Black Hawk Down 38.51
3. Underworld: Evolution 38.49
4. Superman Returns 36.48
5. Talladega Nights 35.95

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Batman Begins 100.00
2. Mission: Impossible III 59.24
3. Troy 46.58
4. V for Vendetta 44.95
5. Goodfellas 38.20

Week ended Jan 7

Top 5 BD
1 The Covenant 100.00
2. X-Men: The Last Stand 73.42
3. Superman Returns 73.13
4. Talladega Nights 72.31
5. The Descent 53.86

Top 5 HD DVD
1. Batman Begins 100.00
2. Troy 46.58
3. Goodfellas 40.89
4. V for Vendetta 37.97
5. The Last Samurai 37.09

[Schlotkins]

As an HD-DVD only guy (for the next 3 months), I have to say those numbers are pretty painful.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Schlotkins

As an HD-DVD only guy (for the next 3 months), I have to say those numbers are pretty painful.

I don't share the pain. There have been more new releases coming from the Blu-ray camp. Many HD DVD owners are sitting on their wallets waiting for a release that's worthy of a purchase.

This is further borne out by the fact that The Departed sold so well on both platforms but particularly well on HD DVD despite the price premium and lack of lossless audio. Once Universal/Paramount/Warner get off their arses and drop a few good titles we'll see the numbers improve.

[Maxpower1987]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

I don't share the pain. There have been more new releases coming from the Blu-ray camp. Many HD DVD owners are sitting on their wallets waiting for a release that's worthy of a purchase.

This is further borne out by the fact that The Departed sold so well on both platforms but particularly well on HD DVD despite the price premium and lack of lossless audio. Once Universal/Paramount/Warner get off their arses and drop a few good titles we'll see the numbers improve.

I thought The Departed on HD DVD came with TrueHD, I could well be mistaken though.

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

This is further borne out by the fact that The Departed sold so well on both platforms but particularly well on HD DVD despite the price premium and lack of lossless audio.

Not that it matters, but The Departed has lossless audio on HD DVD and BD.

Now back to topic, please.

[Sean_O]

Not surprising since there has been such a glut of new releases on HD DVD.

[Schlotkins]

It does appear here that the HD-DVD side is suffering from a lack of new releases. All of those listed are pretty old versus some newer titles for the blu-ray side. I think we'll have to see what happens when Universal picks up its titles.

Grubert-

Was there any information on total volume? I suspect it's still an extremely lower percentage of total discs sold.

Thanks,
Chris

[ShagMan]

Ouch, those numbers hurt for the HD-DVD camp.

However, as somebody else has noted, it's really due (IMO) to the total lack of releases lately.

The HD-DVD studios really dropped the ball on releases.

Gotta love the staying power of Batman Begins, wowsah!

[b.greenway]

Grubert, whats the headline titled at HMM? I cant seem to find it.

--nevermind, found it--

[xbdestroya]

Incredible, in one week alone (Jan 7th vs Jan 14th) BD managed to bridge the "since inception" gap between itself and HD DVD by a further 7%, to 92:100. The weekly sales figures *strongly* favor Blu-ray, and the week-over-week shows a gain in momentum rather than a leveling.

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Schlotkins

Grubert-

Was there any information on total volume? I suspect it's still an extremely lower percentage of total discs sold.

Unfortunately no. But I agree, volumes must be infinitesimal.

As a point of reference, just think Dreamworks has just let Aardman Studios go, inter alia because they only sold 5.1 million units of the Wallace & Gromit movie (vs 20.4 million copies of Madagascar).

[plazman]

Originally Posted by Grubert

At last! Some figures have begun to be posted by Home Media Magazine

They are giving relative percentages between BD and HD DVD, both year-to-date and "since inception", as well as the weekly top 5 for BD and HD DVD, as well as their relative sales within each format.

So, without further ado...

Week ended Jan 14
YTD: BD 100.00, HD 38.36
SI: BD 92.40, HD 100.00

Week ended Jan 7
YTD: BD 100.00, HD 47.14
SI: BD 85.05, HD 100.00

Excellent to finally get some reliable data. This is great news for the BDA and it does look like they are going to achieve a 3:1 sales ratio (100:33) in the coming months. I do believe that Videoscan covers 65% of all sales (AFAIK), and so is easily the most concerete data we have so far.

Also, looking at the data, it looks like it was all hardware driven since the top titles for both formats were older ones and not related to the most recent releases. Looking at this data, I have to say I have been wrong and that a game console - the PS3 will be the deciding factor. There are not enough titles on HD DVD and not enough xbox fans that will pick up the HD drive to counter the PS3 for now....

BD sold 62% more titles than HD DVD! That's huge.

FWIW. I can't find the info on their site though....

[nyg]

Thanks for the post Grubert. This confirms everything we already knew though. Blu-ray is winning the format war and doing so with the aid of the PS3 despite some of the critics who said the PS3 would be a complete nonfactor.

[Innerloop]

Originally Posted by Grubert

At last! Some figures have begun to be posted by Home Media Magazine

They are giving relative percentages between BD and HD DVD, both year-to-date and "since inception", as well as the weekly top 5 for BD and HD DVD, as well as their relative sales within each format.

So, without further ado...

Week ended Jan 14
YTD: BD 100.00, HD 38.36
SI: BD 92.40, HD 100.00

Week ended Jan 7
YTD: BD 100.00, HD 47.14
SI: BD 85.05, HD 100.00

So just so I make sure we are understanding this clearly--

These are relative percentages with the higher of the two being normalized to "100%" and the other expressed relative to the higher of the two?

So "Since Inception" BD has moved 92.4% as many units of software as HD-DVD, meaning its basically caught up, given that we're a couple weeks beyond that figure and the rate of increase would imply an easy overtake?

And Year-to-date sales of Blu ray media as of the most recent figure is 2.6X the sales of HD-DVD?

In some ways these numbers match with DVDEmpire. They seems more unbalanced than the Amazon numbers.

If these are authoritative, it does a few things:

- Helps prove DVD Empire numbers are pretty accurate.
- Helps prove Amazon numbers are somewhat HD-DVD slanted
- help almost prove that BD software sales since inception have passed up HD-DVD.

That's a pretty big deal. I couldn't find that data on the website - do you have a direct link, or was it only in print editions?

[nyg]

Originally Posted by plazman

Looking at this data, I have to say I have been wrong and that a game console - the PS3 will be the deciding factor. There are not enough titles on HD DVD and not enough xbox fans that will pick up the HD drive to counter the PS3 for now....

BD sold 62% more titles than HD DVD! That's huge.

I applaud your excellent post.

[xbdestroya]

I feel like hosting a DC Area BD victory party. (Plazman, maybe you can come!) I think Washington has got to be one of - if not *the* - most heavily represented area of the country on this entire forum.

We'll watch movies and play games on the PS3.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I thought The Departed on HD DVD came with TrueHD, I could well be mistaken though.

Ooops sorry.

Interesting that Batman Begins and Serenity and older titles are doing well. I think this points to new users coming in and keeping the format going.

The PS3 is definitely taking effect but I don't think this is anything that the HD DVD group hasn't seen coming. The palpable anger her regarding HD DVD lack of releases is mirrored probably the the larger group of HD DVD owners. The good news is we're seeing more HD DVD advertisments and with some releases of newer movies HD DVD will make a comeback. I"m sure of it.

[Dahlsim]

Originally Posted by plazman

Looking at this data, I have to say I have been wrong and that a game console - the PS3 will be the deciding factor. There are not enough titles on HD DVD and not enough xbox fans that will pick up the HD drive to counter the PS3 for now....

BD sold 62% more titles than HD DVD! That's huge.

I'd say you have to credit Sony for using the promise of the PS3 so effectively. Measuring the effect of the PS3 on sales itself could only be done accurately if you had similar Hollywood support on both formats.

Of course if you combine the PS3 with the fact that studio support is heavily BD oriented then you have an obvious result. There's not much for hd-dvd owners, xbox or otherwise to buy...

[Maxpower1987]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Interesting that Batman Begins and Serenity and older titles are doing well. I think this points to new users coming in and keeping the format going.

The PS3 is definitely taking effect but I don't think this is anything that the HD DVD group hasn't seen coming. The palpable anger her regarding HD DVD lack of releases is mirrored probably the the larger group of HD DVD owners. The good news is we're seeing more HD DVD advertisments and with some releases of newer movies HD DVD will make a comeback. I"m sure of it.

See, I am not so sure, these people will have to wait until April until the next 'wave' of Universal titles, if they are into HT, they know they will be missing out and the best way to counter that is with a PS3 for $500, so the question is, will people wait or will they buy a PS3, and by the looks of it a considerable number will buy a PS3 (judging by action of many HD DVD guys on this forum).

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Innerloop

So just so I make sure we are understanding this clearly--

These are relative percentages with the higher of the two being normalized to "100%" and the other expressed relative to the higher of the two?

So "Since Inception" BD has moved 92.4% as many units of software as HD-DVD, meaning its basically caught up, given that we're a couple weeks beyond that figure and the rate of increase would imply an easy overtake?

And Year-to-date sales of Blu ray media as of the most recent figure is 2.6X the sales of HD-DVD?

Exactly right.

In some ways these numbers match with DVDEmpire. They seems more unbalanced than the Amazon numbers.

If these are authoritative, it does a few things:

- Helps prove DVD Empire numbers are pretty accurate.
- Helps prove Amazon numbers are somewhat HD-DVD slanted

They are because a lot of Europeans and Aussies have bought/imported HD DVD players (much more than BD players) and we're buying from amazon/dvdpacific like crazy. empire is not so overseas-friendly so their sales represent American sales more accurately IMO.

- help almost prove that BD software sales since inception have passed up HD-DVD.

That's a pretty big deal. I couldn't find that data on the website - do you have a direct link, or was it only in print editions?

Scroll down a little. On the left you'll see a box entitled "This Week's Digital Edition", and underneath the text "Read It Now! Click Here". Click that.

The relative BD/HD ratios are on page 1. Top 5 are on page 8.

[plazman]

Originally Posted by Innerloop

So just so I make sure we are understanding this clearly--

These are relative percentages with the higher of the two being normalized to "100%" and the other expressed relative to the higher of the two?

So "Since Inception" BD has moved 92.4% as many units of software as HD-DVD, meaning its basically caught up, given that we're a couple weeks beyond that figure and the rate of increase would imply an easy overtake?

And Year-to-date sales of Blu ray media as of the most recent figure is 2.6X the sales of HD-DVD?

In some ways these numbers match with DVDEmpire. They seems more unbalanced than the Amazon numbers.

If these are authoritative, it does a few things:


- Helps prove DVD Empire numbers are pretty accurate.
- Helps prove Amazon numbers are somewhat HD-DVD slanted
- help almost prove that BD software sales since inception have passed up HD-DVD.

That's a pretty big deal. I couldn't find that data on the website - do you have a direct link, or was it only in print editions?

These are all true IF the data as reported is true. For now, I can't find it on their site. So, unless someone points me to a link that shows the actual data, I will have to start second guessing...

However, if this data is true. Then we are seeing the end of HD DVD. Like I said, new content had very little impact on the top 5 titles. It was all PS3!

It would illustrate a tremendous hardware momentum that again would prove that Fox was right about HD DVD being unable to create a beach head. Once again, I would have been wrong in my analysis.

Basically, I would have screwed up badly and had it been my job, I would expect to be fired

[joshd2012]

Originally Posted by xbdestroya

I feel like hosting a DC Area BD victory party. (Plazman, maybe you can come!) I think Washington has got to be one of - if not *the* - most heavily represented area of the country on this entire forum.

We'll watch movies and play games on the PS3.

I'll be there!

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

See, I am not so sure, these people will have to wait until April until the next 'wave' of Universal titles, if they are into HT, they know they will be missing out and the best way to counter that is with a PS3 for $500, so the question is, will people wait or will they buy a PS3, and by the looks of it a considerable number will buy a PS3 (judging by action of many HD DVD guys on this forum).

AVS patrons are atypical of the consumer IMO. Let us be a little honest here. There are a million PS3 in homes out there versus what 300k of HD DVD players? We're getting a good idea of what numbers of PS3 it will take to usurp HD DVD sales.

I think it's roughly around 3x. This is important because this is near the estimated numbers for HD DVD players sales (1.8-2.5 million Worldwide vs 6 million PS3)

So clearly the HD DVD group must ensure they are selling %40 of what the Blu-ray camp sells. Feb and March still look pretty lean for HD DVD so I expect Blu-ray to continue to pull ahead unless some more announcements are slotted in for HD DVD.

This battle is interesting to say the least.

[plazman]

Originally Posted by joshd2012

I'll be there!

At least one can't blame Universal and Warner for this. Appears the Sony delivered enough PS3 to control losses in their gaming division to an acceptable level, while ensuring that BD takes control of the format battle.

In my books 75% market share is the magic number at which the other format goes away. I believe one reason Warner could be waiting is to see if BD can indeed get upto the 75% mark by June.

It is also remarkable that dvdempire results were so in line with Videoscan. Perhaps, they ARE reporting videoscan results on their site. For the first and second weeks of Jan, the Videocan numbers reported by Grubert almost mirror dvdempire. It's also interesting that like Grubert's numbers, even dvd empire is using % share.

Anyway. I'd assume that the BDA will use it for their case, if these numbers are verifiable and true. Which I still don't know

[xelloss12]

Originally Posted by plazman

These are all true IF the data as reported is true. For now, I can't find it on their site. So, unless someone points me to a link that shows the actual data, I will have to start second guessing...

Go to their main site, click on "Read it Now! Click Here."

Go past the cover to page 1, lower right corner.

[joshd2012]

Originally Posted by plazman

At least one can't blame Universal and Warner for this.

Absolutely not. No one could logically expect a single studio (Universal) to but out as much units as four studios (Sony, Fox, Disney, Lionsgate) combined. Its just not possible.

And lets be honest. The HD DVD group has these numbers. They know whats going on. Don't expect them to throw in the towel just yet.

[hmurchison]

Numbers today simply don't mean that much. Neither format has a huge installed base of dedicated players.

We haven't hit the next phase where we get web/network connectivity, Managed Copy and more complex interactivity.

The goal is still the same for HD DVD. Get players out and get them into homes. Amazon still has brisk sales of the A2 (rank 12 for DVD players) and the Euro XE1 and E1 players look to be ready for larger delivery.

The only way to beat superior content is price with adequate content.

[briankmonkey]

lol, now numbers don't mean that much anymore. Of course they did before when the numbers were quite different.

Great thread, thanks Grubert

[nyg]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Numbers today simply don't mean that much. Neither format has a huge installed base of dedicated players.

Refresh my memory, how long did DIVX last in its war against DVD? Seriously folks, I think this format war will be over sooner rather than later.