Blu-ray Disc Sales Continue Dominance

According to Home Media Research, during the first half of 2007 a total of 1.6M movies were sold on the Blu-ray format. Rival HD DVD sold less than half during the same time period, with a total of 795,000 movies sold. Since the launch of the formats, Blu-ray has amassed sales of 2.2M movies compared to just 1.5M on HD DVD (which includes data collected through July). Blu-ray continues to maintain a 2:1 sales advantage over its rival heading into the all-important holiday shopping season, and with the long list of upcoming Blu-ray releases, including 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' and 'Spider-man 3', that sales advantage will continue to increase. Consumers are overwhelmingly showing their support for Blu-ray, a fact that has not escaped many studios and retailers who recently announced Blu-ray exclusivity. The recent release of Warner Brothers '300' gave a sales boost to both formats. The Blu-ray version sold 190,000 copies since the title went on sale, compared to 97,000 on HD DVD, according to Warner's Steve Nickerson. Since the majority of these sales occurred in August, Blu-ray is expecting to report strong numbers for the month.