Register Hardware

Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/07/sony_predicts_bluray_sales/

Sony bullish on Blu-ray dominance

By James Sherwood
Published Monday 7th April 2008 12:52 GMT

Sony wants to own 50 per cent of the Blu-ray Disc hardware market by the end of the year, according to a company executive.

Ryoji Chubachi, President and electronics CEO at Sony, made the bold statement during a recent press conference in Taipei, according to a DigiTimes report (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080407PD201.html).

Chubachi claimed that Sony already has 20 per cent of the market. But he aims to boost Sony’s share by 30 per cent through the introduction of more Blu-ray enabled products, such as HD TVs with integrated BD recorders.

The executive also said Sony will extend its focus from Blu-ray players and recorders and the PlayStation 3 out to unnamed IT devices - though the company already offers Vaio PCs with built-in BD drives.

Given the recent death of HD DVD, it’s no surprise that Sony’s predicting such a sharp upturn in consumer interest for Blu-ray. One analyst firm has already forecast that 29.4m homes around the world will own a BD player by the end of 2008 (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/27/hd_dvd_death_is_blu_ray_bloom/), with the vast majority expected to be PS3s.

If Sony wants to beef up sales of standalone Blu-ray players then it still has some way to go. A recent study found that although 56 per cent of Brits, aged between 18 and 54, are aware of the HD format (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/03/bluray_awareness_rising/) - only nine per cent have actually already bought a Blu-ray player.