Jim Bottoms, managing director of industry analyst Understanding & Solutions, spoke at a Blu-ray Disc Association event in London last week and discussed how a relative lack of broadcast HD programming in Europe could encourage sales of high-definiton DVD discs.
In Western Europe, Bottoms forecasted that by 2010 there will be some 115 million HDTV sets in use, but only around 17 million homes will have access to HD broadcast services. "With consumers increasingly aware of the benefits of high definition but unable to access HDTV services, then the demand for pre-recorded HD media is bound to increase significantly," said JimBo. His logic makes sense.
For the U.S., Bottoms predicted that by 2010 there will be around 138 million HDTVs in use and some 81 million homes will receive high definition TV programming.
Bottoms also discussed the November launch of Sony's Playstation 3 video game console as an important "market driver," and he predicted a similar effect in Europe following PS3’s introduction last month: "PS3 has succeeded in changing the focus and boosting Blu-ray disc’s interest. By the end of 2006, a total of one million high definition players of all types were in use in North America including over 750,000 PS3 players."
"Now, over 80 per cent of total US installations are Blu-ray Disc and BD software title sales are outstripping HD-DVD by a significant margin. During the first week in January Blu-ray Disc accounted for 68% of all HD title sales and one week later that figure had increased to 72%," he added.
