Two-thirds of Pocket-lint readers holding back on Blu-ray

Price still the big issue for next-gen disc format

30 May 2008 16:44 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Although the news hot out of Japan suggests that Toshiba may have one last shot to fire in the next-gen format war with some mysterious new DVD upscaling tech, right now to all intents and purposes the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war is over.

So have consumers rushed to adopt the winning technology now that product obsoletion is no longer a pressing issue?

Not quite, stats show that the Blu-ray adoption rates have not risen considerably since Toshiba pulled the plug on the rival HD DVD format.

In fact, recent figures from America show standalone Blu-ray player unit sales dropped a whopping 40% from January to February and saw just a 2% increase between February and March, according to NPD data.

It seems as well as the fact that the average consumer thinks that DVD is "good enough", price is a major factor in the mainstream adoption of the format.

Interested to see how the traditionally early-adopting Pocket-lint readership felt on the issue, in our most recent reader poll we asked: "Are you waiting for Blu-ray to get cheaper before you buy a player?"

Nearly two-thirds answered in the affirmative with 63% saying yes and 37% saying no, which shows prices are going to have to come down more before even tech-loving consumers take the Blu-ray plunge.