HD DVD, Blu-ray Both Declared Victors in Separate, Biased Opinions

January 8, 2007, 10:08 PM by Ed Oswald

Ed Oswald, BetaNews: File this in the so-ridiculous-it’s-almost-sad category, but the Blu-ray Disc Association declared itself the winner Monday at CES. Match this up with a statement by Robbie Bach just 24 hours before that declared HD DVD the “top selling format this year.” However, it’s time for both sides to face reality.

The Consumer Electronics Association, the group behind CES, today said there is no clear winner. It is estimated that only about 200,000 players were sold in the entire year of 2006 (not including Microsoft’s HD DVD add-on, rumored to be quite successful, nor the PS3), and many seem to be leery to choose sides in this battle.

Add to this the fact that HD DVD movies have been outselling Blu-ray titles by a significant margin in many retailers, and one has to wonder where the Blu-ray folks are getting their numbers. At the same time, HD DVD isn’t doing so hot here either.

Our favorites from the press release: the use of a Sony-commissioned study on the use of PS3 as a movie player; and the use of an analyst firm that we’ve never heard of –- Understanding and Solutions -- saying that by 2010 practically all next generation content would be Blu-ray.