Sony's Blu-ray sales falling short

Company won't hit 2008 targets

21 November 2008 12:40 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Blu-ray will not meet its 2008 targets, Sony's US boss has revealed.

Sales of Blu-ray disc players will fall short of expectations, due to the tough economy, Stan Glosgow, head of Sony's US electronics unit said.

Although Blu-ray may get a boost from so-called "Black Friday" sales in the US, where retailers offers a 1-day pre-Christmas sale, Sony will still not meet its targets.

Sony had a worldwide target of five million units, most of which had been expected to sell in the United States.

"It's not that far off of it", Glasgow said. "Maybe 10% off of what we had thought. It's truly one of the items that has performed well during this economic mess."

Glasgow pointed the finger at high prices for BD software as another reason for slow sales:

"They (movie studios) need to make money, and the packaged media is a critical way for them to make money so I understand their problems also", he said.

"But I'd love to see those prices come down, as well as the price of Blu-ray players, to drive adoption."