Despite the death of HD DVD, consumers have been slow to adopt Blu-ray.
According to NPD's Retail Tracking Service, sales of standalone Blu-ray player sales dropped by 40% from January to February and rose
only 2% from February to March. Instead of going Blu-ray, the NPD Group found that many consumers are buying up-converting DVD players.
As a result, sales of these players were up 5% over last year.
Standalone Blu-ray player unit sales dropped 40 percent
from January to February in the U.S. and only saw a 2 percent increase from February to March, according to NPD's Retail Tracking
Service. HD DVD player unit sales dropped 13 percent from January to February, but as production stopped and inventories dried up, sales
spiraled down 65 percent from February to March.
"That standalone Blu-ray players haven't picked up significantly from HD DVD's
loss shows that few consumers were dissuaded primarily by the 'format war'," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis, NPD. "When
we surveyed consumers late last year, an overwhelming number of them said they weren't investing in a new next-generation player because
their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive. It's clear from retail sales that those consumer
sentiments are still holding true."
One option consumers are embracing to enhance their DVD viewing experience is purchasing
up-converting DVD players. According to NPD's Retail Tracking Service, unit sales of up-converting players were up over 5 percent in the
first quarter of 2008 compared to 2007, while sales of DVD players without an up-converting feature declined 39 percent.
If you'd like to read more, the NPD Group's entire press release can be found here.