Blu-ray may be the victor in the optical hi-def market, but the real war may be in getting customers to actually ditch the standard DVD first. It seems that Blu-ray is struggling, with sales for the year being so dismal that the NPD will not even release sales information beyond a few figures. Sales for Blu-ray devices dropped a massive 40% at the beginning of the year, and have since only risen 2% back up.
That's going to be hardware for the manufacturers and retailers to swallow. Equally difficult to overcome, though, is the price tag for equipment, with Blu-ray standalone players still costing $300 and up. Towards the end of this year that may change, with potential price cuts in the works, but as it stands the Blu-ray market is sitting stagnant.