Japan: Blu-ray gets 18.2% share in total video market sales

[Grubert]

Note: percentage refers to recorders, not software. Thanks to kannisto for the clarification.

Japan is known as a country were a product or a gadget reaches a huge group of people in a very short time. The Japanese write books on their mobile phones and use mobile internet like it's been there for a century. So, if Blu-ray sales hit a record, than that must be in Japan. The Blu-ray Disc Association claims that the format has gained 18.2% share in the total video market sales in Japan last month.

GfK Japan obtained the data that makes the BDA believe that their format is sold more and more on the Asian island. After a period of decline in December and January, February showed a 18.2% share. DVD remains to be the dominant optical storage medium for entertainment with a 80.5% share. Blu-ray's former competitor HD DVD still represents 2-3% of the total sales, claims the Blu-ray Disc Association.

Back in September Blu-ray's share was a mere 1.3%... What a few months can do to a format, it can die, or it can grow.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Blu-ray...-in-Japan.html

[bomba]

Not recorder, but movies?

Skeptical. Very skeptical. CDFreaks may have misinterpreted.

Edit; of course 'video market sales' could mean anything, vague as it is.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by bomba

Not recorder, but movies?

Skeptical. Very skeptical. CDFreaks may have misinterpreted.

Edit; of course 'video market sales' could mean anything, vague as it is.

You are right. It's 18.2 % of DVD recorder market. Meaning that 18.2 % of DVD recorders sold were Blu-ray equipped models. That sounds believable. The figures are not about sales of pre-recorded content at all.

There's a report here in Japanese:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20080326/bda.htm

[Grubert]

Thanks. Initial post edited.

[Aodh]

Just from being in the stores here, the recorders are being priced at 120,000 yen ($1,200) and up. Most of the recorders get close to that price too because they're equipped with HDD etc. I'm not surprised the share is high, but electronics and media prices in Japan are insane. I saw the close encounters blu-ray disc the other day for 9,900 yen, or $99.