Blu-ray reportedly doing more than alright in Europe
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 22nd 2008 7:29PM
posted Dec 22nd 2008 7:29PM
Before you get all shocked and awed, may we remind you that Blu-ray has been performing well across the pond pretty much all year. We know, this beacon of shining, happy news from Futuresource is quite the contrast from what we've been hearing lately about the industry overall, but it's far from surprising. The numbers show that British consumers purchased around 462,500 Blu-ray Discs in November, which is an increase of 165% from October. 'Course, a little film called The Dark Knight probably helped out, but we digress. The figures are looking mighty good for the future as well, with Blu-ray's share in the optical disc market expected to double to 6% in France next year. Who knows -- maybe Europeans are so sick and tired of waiting for a decent HD channel lineup that they're using BD to get their high-resolution fix.
Err, given that TDK has been released on Dec. 8th in the UK, how could the November numbers be helped tby this title ? O.o
Pre-orders are generally not counted in actual sales, unless I am mistaken.
Yup, definitely not in November. Iron Man & Kung Fu Panda might have accounted for most sales that month.
As a side note, Blu's presence is definitely increasing in places like HMV & Zavvi the format is quite getting very prominent placement and floor space.
Most places I've gone to (Best Buy, Walmart, etc) you can't go near HDTV's without seeing Blu-ray everywhere and probably on the TV you're looking at. The retailers are doing a go job equating HiDef wtih HDTV+Blu-ray. It is working into the mindset of consumers...
I think things in the US will take a dramatic turn when you see sub $100 units. Target already has an olevia (eh) for $150, so i'd say by feb/march of 09 we'll break that 99.99 level.
165% more of very little is still very little.
Under 500,000 movie discs (and what do you mean Batman TDK, it's obviously Iron Man & pre-orders?) isn't exactly amazing considering how many PS3s are supposed to be out there.