"We can not yet claim victory but the balance has been seriously on our side." Philippe Citroen, general manager of Sony France, welcomed the good results attributed to the Blu-ray format on the occasion of the presentation of the new products 2008. According to him, the Blu-ray occupy 90% of the DVD high definition to only 10% for its competitor HD DVD Toshiba (NPD Group pushes even to 93% it's market share).
The leader acknowledges, however, that the bulk of sales of Blu-ray devices comes from the Playstation 3. With 4.9 million video game consoles sold in the fourth quarter 2007 in the world (including 600000 in France), sales of PS3 "is once again profitable." And the consumer who acquires a PS3 quickly discovers the qualities of HD and converts to Blu-ray, according to Philippe Citroen.
An analysis that the sales of Blu-ray films tend to confirm. According to the European Committee for Promotion of Blu-ray Disc. Association, which is based on Media Control GfK, with 2.79 million discs sold in Europe, the Sony high definition format holds 79% of the sales of HD. In France, 440,000 Blu-ray films were sold since January 2007 against 169,000 for the HD DVD. The Blu-ray catalog contain currently 263 titles against 163 for his competitor.
Recently, Toshiba had tried to accelerate sales by slashing the price of its consoles on several occasions. In vain. 80% of American studios now support the Sony technology. And retail chains like Best Buy or Netflix announced the abandonment of the commercialization of HD DVD.
Suddenly, the rumors have intensified around the possible abandonment of Toshiba in the market for HD. Nothing official yet, but according to Jodi Sally, vice-president of marketing in the United States, quoted by Hollywood Reporter, "Toshiba will continue to study the effects on the market and the benefits to consumers, particularly regarding our Recent tariff reductions on all HD DVD players. " The conclusion is likely to be without appeal in the light of the latest figures. The victory of Sony in the market of high-definition video could be closer than Philippe Citroen think.
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