So the dust has settled on CES and most manufacturers will likely be walking away happy after a successful show. But one area that must be reeling from a truly terrible start to 2008 is the HD-DVD camp.
Over recent weeks the company has seen HBO (maker of ultra popular TV fare like Sex In The City, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under) and parent company Time Warner go Blu-ray exclusive, abandoning a very lucrative TV series deal with HD-DVD.
The bad news was further consolidated by porno label Digital Playground, which is also moving exclusively to Blu-ray after initial difficulties with Sony concerning the, ahem, content of its movies and whether HD was entirely necessary.
DP has announced it will be releasing eight BD titles next month including Jesse Jane: Sexual Freak, Babysitters and Jack's Teen America 3. This part of the industry accounts for a huge number of international disc sales.
Other rumours continued to spin around the floor of CES with claims from 'second to none' sources commenting that both Universal and Paramount are in the process of switching to Blu with the aim of dropping HD-DVD next month. This comes despite vigorous denials from both companies about such a move, but if it was to happen it would surely signal a deathblow for Microsoft and Tosh's next-gen format.
The Blu-ray disc association showed no signs of slowing down its assault either (perhaps it can smell blood?), announcing that Blu-ray discs are outselling HD-DVDs by nearly three to one in Europe and two to one in the States as of the end of 2007. In Japan the margin was apparently an amazing 14 to one.
These figures include stats from the PS3 however - something the HD-DVD group tends to ignore, as it's not a 'standalone' player despite its top performance.
Hardware-wise things are just as bad for HD-DVD with sales of playback devices (again PS3 included) sitting at three to one in the States, ten to one in Europe and more than 100 to one in Japan in favour of Blu-ray.
Check our CES report and you'll see a noticeable difference in the number of Blu-ray disc spinners released in comparison to HD-DVD machines, which tells a story in itself, we believe.
The result of all this Blu-ray favoured activity was clear to see at CES with the rival stands conveniently located next to each other and a marked difference in activity - Blu-ray was buzzing, HD-DVD was not.
The HD-DVD group event delayed its key announcements in light of the change of sides from Warner Bros et al, while it considers its future, we assume.
More to come as we get it, but things aren't looking good for HD-DVD.
www.blu-ray.com
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