Blu-ray Interest Rising, says NPD

The NPD Group today released a report suggesting that Blu-ray Disc technology is becoming more popular. For the first quarter of 2009, sales of stand-alone Blu-ray players in the U.S. grew to over 400,000 units, a 72 percent increase over the same period last year. NPD's retail tracking service says this resulted in $107 million worth of sales.

"The rising penetration of high-definition televisions and lower Blu-ray player prices are broadening the format's market opportunity," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD. "Even as options expand for accessing movies digitally, Blu-ray is carrying forward the widespread appeal of DVD into the high-definition marketplace."

The "Blu-ray Report" March 2009 update by NPD says that awareness of the Blu-ray format has increased to 90 percent in the past half year. Intent to purchase for Blu-ray set-top boxes rose slightly to six percent from five percent. 58 percent of adults, however, claim they are "not very familiar" with Blu-ray.

The newest Blu-ray consumers are more concerned with pricing than first adopters. While prices are continuing to fall in the range of acceptability for a wider range of consumers, many who have not upgraded still assert their current DVD player is "good enough," and they feel the price is too high for Blu-ray movies and players or they simply aren't interested.

"The leading driver of Blu-ray purchase intent is recommendations from friends, family or co-workers," said NPD's entertainment industry analyst, Russ Crupnick. "Blu-ray's superiority used to be difficult for many consumers to grasp, but when friends rave about it, or demonstrate Blu-ray in their homes, they are selling the benefits in a way that is far more effective than simply viewing an advertisement or seeing it demonstrated at a retail store."

NPD reports that prices for stand alone Blu-ray players have fallen more than a third in the past year, from $393 last year to $261 in early 2009. The "Blu-ray Report" suggests that consumers who are looking to purchase a Blu-ray player in the next six months are expecting to pay $214 on average.