New data released Tuesday by Home Media Research provides a first look at actual disc sales numbers for the first half of 2007, and it's more good news for Blu-ray.
The research arm of Home Media Magazine says total sales of Blu-ray discs for the first six month of 2007 totalled 1.6 million units, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in the same time frame.
While Blu-ray's 2-to-1 disc sales lead over HD DVD in 2007 has been known for months now, these figures are the first hard look at exactly how many discs have been sold by each format so far this year.
Of course, these numbers remain tiny compared to standard-def DVD sales. Both high-def disc formats combined have reportedly accounted for only 2.5% of overall disc sales so far this year.
Still, with overall DVD sales in a continued slump, high-def remains the one clear growth area for the home entertainment industry. As such, retailers are said to be making more room for both next-gen formats as we head into the crucial fourth quarter holiday shopping season.
What effect the increased shelf space, a packed release slate, and lower player prices will have on disc sales for the second half of the year remains to be seen, but needless to say, we'll be tracking developments as they happen.
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