Despite Blu-ray's claims to have outsold HD DVD movies by more than two to one for Q1 of this year, when it comes to selling stand alone players HD DVD claims the lead. Citing data based on NPD reports and Nielsen Netratings reports, the HD-DVD Promotions Group announced today that HD DVD hardware sales for Q2 are up by 37 percent from Q1, while software sales experienced a 20 percent increase in growth.
In the same time period Blu-Ray player sales took a 27 percent decline, while on the software side sales were down 5 percent. Of course, with the HD DVD camp's aggressive price strategy, bringing players down to a $299 price point, it isn't hard to see why these figures have arisen.
It wasn't mentioned if PlayStation 3 consoles were excluded from the numbers but it would be no surprise if they were, seeing that movie studios associated with HD DVD have in the past omitted the PS3 from their claims, arguing that the console is not purchased as a dedicated movie player.
Furthermore, if hybrid players capable of reproducing content from both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs ever become popular (and affordable), perhaps the only way to judge which side is winning would be in terms of movie sales.