Blu-ray Association hits back at HD DVD sales claims

Wants consoles included in figures to measure success

13 July 2007 18:27 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee has hit back at HD DVD’s figures in yet another tit-for-tat argument over which format is winning the format war, and who is the best at making the numbers work for them.

According to the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee, it says that this claim is “misleading and misrepresentative” of the real and clear market trends in Europe, before admitting that HD DVD “does have sales advantage for several reasons”.

Where is has a gripe however, is that the HD DVD figures fail to include the European PC drive sales or Sony’s PlayStation 3 console.

According to the BDA European Promotions Committee including these would mean that Blu-ray Disc accounts for almost 95% of all next generation hardware sales in Europe this year.

Earlier this week sales figures from the European HD DVD Promotion Group announced that Toshiba has taken a leading share of the European market for standalone high definition players, according to independent pan-European research by GfK.

Following what they describe as a strong period of sales and momentum for the format, HD DVD’s share of the market averaged 74% from January to May 2007.

Taking a swipe at the Blu-ray stats that are bolstered by the number of PS3's sold, Steve Nickerson, senior vice president, high hefinition media at Warner Bros sates:

"These figures are especially important because the standalone player market is by far the biggest driver of movie sales in the long-term."

"This is simply because those who buy a standalone player are interested solely in buying and watching movies and other video content, whereas those with HD drives built into games consoles are primarily interested in games."