Blu-ray Player Sales Soar in UK

UK online retailers Play.com and Dixons.co.uk have both reported large spikes in Blu-ray player interest from their customers since Toshiba officially announced they would no longer be supporting the HD DVD format, effectively declaring Blu-ray the winner of the high definition format war. Dixons is reporting that searches for Blu-ray player are up 150%, while Play.com is reporting that Player sales the day of the announcement were up 700%.

deVere Forster, managing director at Dixons, commented, "This is good news for consumers as the availability of a single format will allow consumers to purchase the high definition Blu-ray format DVD player with every confidence and enjoy all the benefits that this fantastic format has to offer".

Stuart Rowe, Chief Operating Officer at Play.com remarked, "People have been waiting a long time to move into the Hi-Def era and now they have the confidence that this is going to be the format."

Consumers have been reluctant to purchase high definition movies during the format war for fear they would end up investing in a failed format. Now that a winner has been declared the winner, consumers are flocking to purchase movies and players on Blu-ray.

As much as the format war has been credited for lowering player prices and offering exclusive sales, it also had its part in keeping consumers away. With a winner declared, consumer adoption can adjust to the level it should have been at all along.