Nielsen VideoScan/Home Media Magazine: Blu-ray/DVD/HD DVD Stats (Updated Weekly)

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 31st January 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 11.25% vs 88.75%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $21.16 million
DVD sales total spending: $167 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (February 8 - 14 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom278861FDC/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

Michael Jackson's This Is It is easily this week's number one selling Blu-ray title, beating second place, and also a new release, Surrogates by more than a 3:1 ratio. Saw VI, another new release, was third and sold about half as many as Surrogates. WWII in HD rounded off the new releases in the top 10 at 9th place.

The rest of the top 10 were all previously released titles, and the complete top 10 chart is below:

1. Michael Jackson: This Is It
2. Surrogates
3. Saw VI
4. The Hangover
5. Up
6. Star Trek
7. The Hurt Locker
8. Gamer
9. WWII in HD
10. Inglourious Basterds

Market Share:

Looking at the revenue market share stats above, Blu-ray sales actually feel relative to DVD sales. This is solely due to one title, Michael Jackson's This Is It, whose universal popularity saw the DVD version sell in large numbers, enough to ensure the Blu-ray version doesn't even make the market share top 10 chart. Otherwise, this week had bigger releases than last week but still ended up being one of the better recent weeks for DVD (compared to Blu-ray).

Of the week's other new releases, Surrogates also didn't make the top 10, which is strange because this is the kind of title (Action, Sci-Fi) that Blu-ray buyers usually love. The fact that the Blu-ray version is selling at a high price, on Amazon at least, perhaps has something to do with it. Surrogates has yet to drop below $23.95 on Amazon, and was as high as $25.99 when it first became available for pre-order.

The week's other new release, WWII in HD sold quite well on Blu-ray as expected. In a very strange decision, this title was actually in released on standard definition DVD. Just why a " ... in HD" title was released in SD, you'll have to ask A&E Home Video and the History Channel. In any case, consumers were wise to this confusion and snapped up the one and only true HD version of this " ... in HD" title on Blu-ray, with a massive 57.87% market share. Which still didn't see it top the charts, as it belonged to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra with an amazing 63.10% market share. In other words, the Blu-ray version of this movie is almost selling at a 2:1 ratio to the DVD version.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom278861FDC/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 1st February 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 6.18% vs 93.12%

Blu-ray: $10.27 million
DVD: $155.74 million

DVD sale was up 7.23% from the same week a year ago, while Blu-ray sales rose by 106.09%.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just over 82% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 7th February 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 11.44% vs 88.56%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $21.56 million
DVD sales total spending: $166.83 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (February 15 - 21 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom255648WER/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

Zombieland was this week's top seller, easily beating last week's number one, Michael Jackson's This Is It. The zombie comedy outsold This Is It by more than a 3 to 1 factor.

Planet Hulk was third and is another new release, as was Ong Bak 2: The Beginning at 6th, which was released along with the original Ong Bak on Blu-ray, which did not make the top 20. It's certainly good to see a non English title in the top 10, which is a sign of a healthier Blu-ray market that's attracting all sorts of buyers, not just the typical early adopter crowd.

The rest of the top 10 were all previously released titles, and the complete top 10 chart is below:

1. Zombieland
2. Michael Jackson: This Is It
3. Planet Hulk
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Surrogates
6. Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
7. Up
8. Inglourious Basterds
9. Star Trek
10. The Hangover

Market Share:

Zombieland had a 31.34% market share on Blu-ray, while good, it's not the 40+% we've come to expect from hit titles in the recent past. For example, Ong Bak 2 managed 42.79%, and Star Trek is still hovering around the 50% mark. Planet Hulk also did relatively poor at "only" 28.04%.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom255648WER/index.php?startid=11

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 8th February 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 5.42% vs 94.58%

Blu-ray: $11 million
DVD: $191.85 million

DVD sale was down 13.04% from the same week a year ago, while Blu-ray sales rose by 95.98%. In money terms, DVDs lost $25.02 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $10.56 million, an overall loss of $14.46 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just over 111% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 14th February 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 9.46% vs 90.54%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $20.15 million
DVD sales total spending: $192.86 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (February 22-28 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom078845MNB/index.php?startid=3

Top 10:

A relatively quiet week for Blu-ray, falling below the 10% market share ratio for the first time since August 2009.

Couples Retreat was the week's top selling title by a considerable margin, but as you'll see in the market share analysis below, the movie sold more on DVD than the recent number one's. Movies such as this are not yet as popular on Blu-ray as say Sci-Fi (Star Trek) or action (Inglourious Basterds). Third place The Time Traveller's Wife didn't even make the top 20 market share charts for similar reasons.

And that was it for new releases in the top 10, which goes a long way to explain the relatively poor market share numbers.

The rest of the top 10 were all previously released titles, and the complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. Couples Retreat
2. Zombieland
3. The Time Traveller's Wife
4. Michael Jackson: This Is It
5. Star Trek
6. The Hangover
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. Up
9. The Hurt Locker
10. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Market Share:

Star Trek is siting pretty at the top of the market share charts with 55.53% market share. This suggest that Blu-ray sales for this title since release is pretty much close to parity with the DVD version, and may even be slightly ahead.

Of the new releases, Couple's Retreat managed 19.03%, much less than the 40+% that titles like Star Trek and District 9 earned on their first weeks of release, and the 30+% that Zombieland earned last week. But still, 19% is a good result for a title that would have been in single digits this time last year at best, and it's growth for these kind of titles that will push Blu-ray towards becoming a true DVD replacement.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom078845MNB/index.php?startid=11

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 15th February 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 4.95% vs 95.05%

Blu-ray: $10.78 million
DVD: $207.02 million

DVD sale were down 6.84% from the same week a year ago, while Blu-ray sales rose by 86.89%. In money terms, DVDs lost $14.16 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $9.37 million, an overall loss of $4.79 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just over 91% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 21st February 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 7.77% vs 92.23%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $18.58 million
DVD sales total spending: $220.49 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (March 1 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom456332HGF/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

Another quiet week for Blu-ray, and again falling below the 10% market share ratio (second time since August 2009, first time was last week).

Law Abiding Citizen was the week's top seller, which managed to outsell the number two title Halo: Legends by a huge margin (more than 4 to 1).

Last week's number one, Couples Retreat, was third, and the rest of the chart were also previously released titles.

So with only two new releases for the week in the top 10, and neither did spectacularly in the market share charts, Blu-ray's market share shrank and we're almost back to where we were a year ago.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. Law Abiding Citizen
2. Halo: Legends
3. Couples Retreat
4. Zombieland
5. Up
6. The Hurt Locker
7. Star Trek
8. Gamer
9. The Hangover
10. Michael Jackson: This Is It

Market Share:

G.I Joe: The Rise of the Cobra got an amazing 61.69% market share for the Blu-ray version this week and was top of the charts. With these kind of numbers, it's hard to tell which is supposed to be the mainstream format, DVD or Blu-ray.

However, the overall market share decline can be attributed to lack of new release titles. There as only two this week, and two in the previous week, and none were what you would call A list titles, at least not for Blu-ray. Law Abiding Citizen got 28.05%, which would have been great a year ago, and is merely average right now. Similarly, Halo: Legends only did slightly better at 29.91%. Now you might expect a video game based Blu-ray release to do quite well on the PS3 Blu-ray demographic, but Halo is an Xbox 360 franchise, and so that explains that.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom456332HGF/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 22nd February 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 6.49% vs 93.51%

Blu-ray: $13.28 million
DVD: $191.21 million

Both DVD and Blu-ray sales were up compared to the same week last year. DVD was up 15.31%, and Blu-ray was up 39.95%. In money terms, DVD sales gained $29.28 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $5.3 million, an overall gain of $34.58 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just under 20% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 28th February 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 13.23% vs 86.77%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $20.96 million
DVD sales total spending: $137.44 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (March 8-14 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom758894SGH/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

While Blu-ray rose slowly, it was the fall in DVD revenue that contributed much to this week's figures. Overall, it was yet another quiet week in terms of releases, but some Blu-ray sales must have helped the format to avoid the drop in revenue due to lack of new releases.

Law Abiding Citizen was again the week's top seller, and easily outsold number two Up. You know it's a quiet week when the top title was last week's, and the number two title was released nearly four months ago.

At least the number three title was a new release, although Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths hardly qualifies as an A-list release.

The other new release in the top 10 was The Informant, but it was only 10th on the top sellers charts.

The rest of the top 10 were previously released titles, including some rather odd entries of old releases that probably haven't been in the top 10 since the weeks they were released (and doubtful even then). Perhaps some sales were responsible, and the market share data may back this theory up as well.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. Law Abiding Citizen
2. Up
3. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
4. Star Trek
5. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
8. (500) Days of Summer
9. The Wizard of Oz
10. The Informant

Market Share:

Jennifer's Body recorded what must have a record for Blu-ray market share - 76.95%. This means that the DVD version of this movie, for the last week of February, was outsold comprehensively by the Blu-ray version. If you told me that the number was reversed, then I would probably believe you more.

This could also be due to Jennifer's Body selling in low numbers, and the stats are skewed this way. But this title managed 13th place in the top seller's chart, so it's not exactly selling 12 copies of something, with 8 of those belonging to Blu-ray, or something ridiculous like that.

Update: Yes, it seems a sale was responsible, as a couple of titles in the top 10 all belonged to the same sale here on Amazon.

And for further proof, Star Trek managed to also sell nearly as high at 76.86, and this was a top 4 Blu-ray title as well, so it suggest that Blu-ray is selling during times when the DVD version is hardly moving. Understandable given the nature of this film, but the Jennifer's Body numbers are harder to believe, considering this was never a top seller on Blu-ray anyway, recording a disappointing 12th on its debut and a relatively pathetic 20.21% in market share. I can only guess that this must be something to do with a sale, since Jennifer's Body is selling at a relatively low price at the moment.

Apart from these two, there were 10 more titles that sold more on Blu-ray than on DVD. Of the two new releases, Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths only managed 29.30%, while The Informant didn't even get into the top 20, so it did less than 19.82%. This seems strange to me, for some reason.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom758894SGH/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 1st March 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 5.97% vs 94.03%

Blu-ray: $11.85 million
DVD: $186.59 million

DVD sales were down while and Blu-ray sales were up compared to the same week last year. DVD was down 26.34%, and Blu-ray was up 76.89%. In money terms, DVD sales lost $49.15 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $9.11 million, an overall loss of $40.04 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just under 122% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 7th March 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 13.62% vs 86.37%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $30.62 million
DVD sales total spending: $194.09 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (March 15-21 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom540038GTH/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

Both Blu-ray and DVD sales rose for the week, and but by similar ratios (although ever slightly in Blu-ray's favour), and so the percentages remained similar to last week, even though there was close to $90 million more in business.

The single big release for the week was of course 2012. There was also another relatively big name release in second place, Where the Wild Things Are, but it was outsold by 2012 by a 3-to-1 margin. And even the third placed title was a new release, Ponyo. These three titles were largely responsible for the rise in Blu-ray revenue, $10 million compared to last week.

The rest of the top 10 were previously released titles, including again some rather old releases. Again, it looks like aggressive pricing was result, this week for the Pirate of the Caribbean trilogy on Blu-ray, which pushed the titles (that haven't been in the top 20 for ages) to 8th, 9th and 10th.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. 2012
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Ponyo
4. The Hurt Locker
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
6. Law Abiding Citizen
7. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Market Share:

I talked about Jennifer's Body breaking the Blu-ray market share numbers, but this week, the Pirates of Caribbean movies easily broke that again, with 87.26% for The Curse of the Black Pearl. The only way to get higher would be if the DVD version didn't exist at all. All three Pirates movies dropped in price, at least on Amazon.com, from the usual $20 to $13.49 ($14.99 for At World's End).

For the new releases, 2012 debuted with a relatively high 41.18%, probably just about right given the nature of the title. Ponyo go 34.44% and Where the Wild Things Are got a lower 27.98%, still very respectable, but considered low these days.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom540038GTH/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 8th March 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 5.95% vs 94.05%

Blu-ray: $10.61 million
DVD: $167.71 million

It's one of those rare weeks when both DVD and Blu-ray sales were up compared to the same time last year, but as usual, Blu-ray sales were way up, whereas DVD sales were only moderately up (but understandable, given where the different status of each format - one is an emerging one, while another established). DVD sales were up 15.73%, while Blu-ray was up a high 188.55%. In money terms, DVD sales gained $26.38 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $20.01 million, an overall gain of $46.39 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just under 129% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 14th March 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 10.09% vs 89.91%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $22.50 million
DVD sales total spending: $200.45 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (March 22-28 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom250046WER/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

A slight drop for Blu-ray market share, despite quite a few new releases. While last week's number on 2012 was still going strong, but it dropped to second place just behind The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

Old Dogs was third, despite the ridiculous pricing for the single disc Blu-ray edition of the film ($33.99 on Amazon at the moment - the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo version is only $24.99, although that's higher than usual as well).

Up in the Air was another one of this week's new releases, at 5th, and Planet 51 at 6th was yet another new release.

Precious rounded of this week's new releases in the top 10.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
2. 2012
3. Old Dogs
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Up in the Air
6. Planet 51
7. Precious
8. Where the Wild Things Are
9. Ponyo
10. The Boondock Saints

Market Share:

So despite a good range of new releases, Blu-ray market share dropped compared to last week. The "amazing" market share numbers we've witnesses for individual titles in the previous weeks is this week carried by Quantum of Solace, at 73%, not as impressive as the near 90% enjoyed by Pirates of Caribbean last week. 2012 is still doing well at 33.77%, but not really reaching the same heights as titles like Star Trek or District 9 (which are still going strong at 47% and 44% respectively). I wonder if the higher pricing of 2012, compared to the new release pricing of both Star Trek and District 9, may be a factor in this.

Of this week's new releases, only The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day was in the top 10 (and only the top 10 was provided by HMM). It managed 33.94%, which again is respectable, but not spectacular.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom250046WER/index.php?startid=11

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 15th March 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 7.44% vs 92.56%

Blu-ray: $16.75 million
DVD: $208.32 million

DVD sales were down 3.78%, while Blu-ray was up a 34.39%. In money terms, DVD sales dropped $7.87 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $5.75 million, an overall loss of $2.12 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by around 36% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 21st March 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 12.53% vs 87.47%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $31.78 million
DVD sales total spending: $221.94 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (March 29 - April 4 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom198865SFG/index.php?startid=3

Top 10:

The week's big release is The Twilight Saga: New Moon. This, and Disney's The Princess and the Frog closely behind in second place helped Blu-ray to increase its market share for the week.

Last week's number one, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, fell to fourth place, with third place being occupied by another of the week's new releases, Ninja Assassin.

The other new releases in the top 10 included Armored at 7th, The Fourth Kind at 8th and Astro Boy at 9th, making it a pretty busy week for new releases.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
2. The Princess and the Frog
3. Ninja Assassin
4. The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
5. The Hurt Locker
6. 2012
7. Armored
8. The Fourth Kind
9. Astro Boy
10. Planet 51

Market Share:

No Blu-ray titles managed to get over 50% in this week's market share charts, although The Dark Knight got close with 49.73% market share.

For the week's new releases, Ninja Assassin got the best market share percentage with 42.12%. Since this was a number three selling title, it suggests this is one of the titles responsible for the bump in overall market share.

It seems New Moon and The Princess and the Frog weren't responsible because the latter only managed 21.72%, good for a kids title, but below average for new releases these days. More disappointing was the fact that New Moon didn't even make the top 20, which means it had a market share of 17.04% (or that it was included in the market share calculations for some reason, even though it is a concurrent DVD/Blu-ray release). Astro Boy didn't make the top 20 either.

Armored got 24.56%, which is average, The Fourth Kind slightly higher at 25.74%.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom198865SFG/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 22nd March 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 7.34% vs 92.66%

Blu-ray: $18.79 million
DVD: $237.17 million

DVD sales were down 6.42%, while Blu-ray was up a 69.12%. In money terms, DVD sales dropped $15.23 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $12.99 million, an overall loss of $2.24 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just under 71% year on year.

[admin]

Stats:

For the week ending 28th March 2010, here are the stats:

Percentage of revenue:
Blu-ray vs DVD: 16.11% vs 83.89%

Blu-ray sales total spending: $45.46 million
DVD sales total spending: $236.73 million

You can read the latest digital edition of HMM (April 5 Issue) with the above stats here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom078846DFC/index.php?startid=1

Top 10:

Three big releases, including two that are not available on DVD, helped to push Blu-ray market share to their highest level in 2010.

The Pixar classic Toy Story and Toy Story 2, both on Blu-ray for the first time and without a concurrent DVD only release since this was a combo pack, were top and third respectively, and sandwiched in between was the week's other major release, The Blind Side.

Last week's big release, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, was still selling well at 4th.

The week's other new releases in the top 10 includes Fantastic Mr. Fox at 7th, The Men Who Stare at Goats in 8th, and Brothers at 10th.

The complete top 10 chart is below (new releases in bold):

1. Toy Story
2. The Blind Side
3. Toy Story 2
4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
5. The Princess and the Frog
6. 2012
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. The Men Who Stare at Goats
9. Ninja Assassin
10. Brothers

Market Share:

Since the two top selling Toy Story movies were available in Blu-ray + DVD pack only, they were not part of the market share charts, and as with combos in the past, are counted as a Blu-ray release. For the week's other new releases, The Blind Side did not make the top 20, despite being the second most popular title of the week (this would put The Blind Side's market share numbers at below 19.28%, which is fairly poor compared to recent new releases).

The highest placed new release was Fantastic Mr. Fox, at 26.79%. The Men Who Stare at Goats debuted at 21.32%, while Brothers didn't make the top 20 either.

The complete Top 20 best sellers and Blu-ray market share tables can be seen here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom078846DFC/index.php?startid=9

Year to Year Comparison

The stats for the week ending 29th March 2009 are as follows, after being adjusted to the new calculation method (see "Important Note" section in this post) used for the majority of 2009 (original stats can be seen here):

Blu-ray vs DVD: 8.32% vs 91.68%

Blu-ray: $24.03 million
DVD: $264.74 million

DVD sales were down 10.58%, while Blu-ray was up 89.17%. In money terms, DVD sales dropped $28.01 million, while Blu-ray revenue increased by $21.43 million, an overall loss of $6.58 million in combined revenue.

Blu-ray's market share grew by just under 94% year on year.

[dr_ml422]

I didn't know Toy Story never came out on DVD. What's the deal with that? Not as if it's some great epic or something. ET was understandable as some others.

[admin]

The new Toy Story 1 and 2 editions are only available in a single package, that is the Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, so there's no equivalent "DVD only" edition to compare it with. If you want the new edition on DVD, you'll have to buy the Blu-ray version as well. Perhaps I wasn't very clear with my post, I've edited it to make it a bit more clear.

I'm fairly sure all sales of this combo is counted as part of the Blu-ray revenue only, since the SKU is a Blu-ray SKU, and so this makes it a Blu-ray exclusive. I guess this makes more sense than counting it as a DVD release, since this new edition has mainly been made with Blu-ray owners in mind. But this is actually a bit unfair for the DVD revenue numbers, since we don't know how many people purchased this combo but only wanted the DVD version (get the DVD for now, keep the Blu-ray for later when they get a player). This happened with the Snow White combo, and I'm fairly sure a lot of buyers were only after the DVD at that time (since the DVD edition had been out of print for several years already).

Lord of the Rings Trilogy, another Blu-ray exclusive, has just been released and data for it becomes available in 2 weeks time. This is more of a straight Blu-ray release since there's no DVD version included, although the extra feature discs are DVD only. So not only did they not include the extended cuts of the movie, they didn't even bother to transfer the extra features onto Blu-ray either, keeping them on 6 DVDs, and obviously not in HD. Apparently, they didn't even bother to change the disc artwork, and the video quality is only average. Seems Warner/New Line rushed this release somewhat. There's a healthy protest on Amazon for this title (*a lot* of people voting 1 stars), mainly because people wanted the Extended Edition, and it will be interesting to see how well (or badly) it sells in two week's time.

[dr_ml422]

If they're trying to cut corners and at the same time placate the still DVD crowd it's kinda silly in a way. I mean w/e Studio produced it can release both versions and still make money. Although at this point it's pretty obvious that Blu-ray is solely on their mind. With good reason too. The 3D evolution is here and getting better I guess. LG came out w/their version. Didn't recall the name but it looked good as they all do on commercials etc...

Lot to consider w/Blu-ray. I myself while now having the money for the PS3 thought twice as I don't have a large HDTV to enjoy the full quality. So I'll be most likely getting a new HDTV before the PS3.

Otn since Blu-ray has dropped in price it's not so bad if they put out these combo sets, but as you mentioned many prolly got it for the DVDs and Blu-ray later. It doesn't have to be until they buy a Blu-ray player either. It could be they don't have a HDTV or a nice size one for the full effect as well.

[admin]

Speaking of Blu-ray price drops, I have a feeling that it might have dropped far quicker than manufacturers and studios would have hoped. The whole point of the format was for extra profit, but with higher production costs for Blu-ray (commissioning new extra features, more interactive content, better transfers and actual production and licensing cost increases), I'm not sure studios have gained much from all of this. Getting customers to re-buy some of their movies on HD will help, but the majority of sales is still being driven by new releases, which for every Blu-ray copy sold, means one less DVD copy being sold as well.

Of course, the move to HD was always going to happen, whether it was profitable or not, so in this respect, there really wasn't a choice as to whether studios should have gone HD or not.

[dr_ml422]

HD here is referring to Blu-ray always correct? This is somewhat confusing to the consumer as now no one really knows what to make of these price drops. On the one hand it could be increasing Blu-ray sales but do to the aboveforementioned regarding manufacturing etc... it can't possibly cover the overhead. Unless Sony is not being totally up front on the actual costs involved in production of Blu-ray.

Also this can be alarming not only for Sony and the Studios which imo had to be crazy to think it never was going to drop in price, or stay high, but to the consumers who invested in all the hardware to watch Blu-ray. We're talking thousands here for some, and hundreds for most. A PS3, HDTV, burners, software for the PC like PowerDVD and Games that might be rendered useless if Blu-ray actually fails. The Games and DVD viewing aside.

How can they keep it up at these prices? How will they even try to raise the prices given DVDs are still here? Something's up. Something's not right about this whole thing.

Please post some logical future takes on this given the facts as we know them if you may. Thnx.

[admin]

I'm thinking they originally wanted prices to stay high a bit longer, but they saw that consumers weren't interested in that having to used to low prices for DVDs. So the studios figured that it would probably be more costly if Blu-ray didn't succeed at this point. And so, price cuts was the way to go. Blu-ray is still a bit more expensive than DVDs, and so it has helped to stop the bleeding a bit in terms of revenue loss.

In the early days, Sony was known to subsidize production costs for its Blu-ray partners, as well as providing funds for promotions. Not sure if they're still doing that.