Monday, July 16,2007 @ 4:35pm
Blu-Ray group disputes HD DVD sales claims
Representatives of the Blu-Ray industry are challenging claims that HD DVD is the dominant HD format in Europe. Promoters of the latter have suggested that in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, there are nearly three times more HD DVD players than Blu-Ray models. These figures have admittedly excluded the Sony PlayStation 3 however, which can play Blu-Ray movies, but is foremost a game console. The HD DVD committee only tracks devices which are primarily movie players.
Sales of the PlayStation 3 could tilt statistics substantially, since 800,000 units had already been sold in the continent by April. Furthermore, spokesmen for the Blu-Ray European Promotions Committee note that PC drives haven't been accounted for, which they argue could help put Blu-Ray at 95 percent of the European market. The HD DVD Promotion Group has not responded to this counter-claim. [via The Register]