Retailers expect Blu-ray to outsell DVD soon

DVD players to be exact, not discs. It will be a couple of years before Blu-ray discs could even begin to outsell DVDs. But since the HD format war has ended early, the demand for Blu-ray players has been outstripping supply, according to retailers. They expect this shortage to go on until August, when the big electronic manufacturers will launch their new Blu-ray players.

“People have been waiting weeks for Sony players, but it should get better later in the summer. In August, it will be the first time that Blu-ray overtakes [standard DVD] sales for us on a unit basis,” retailer Crutchfield said. The Blu-ray players already overtook DVD players in dollars spent at Crutchfield, with 60%/40%. Electronics retailer Bjorn expects their unit sales to shift from 70%/30% to 90%/10% by the end of the summer. “Everyone is trying to assure us the supply is going to get better. Right now it’s a hindrance,” owner Bjorn Dybdahl said.

Of course most of this is anecdotal evidence, but these words are much more positive than the 40% drop in Blu-ray player sales we heard about a couple of weeks ago. Followed by the lower Blu-ray discs sales later that week.