Report: Blu-Ray too reliant on PS3

Blu-Ray may have

consigned HD-DVD to history’s rubbish bin

, but it may still struggle to replace the traditional DVD format – not least because the format’s market is too ‘heavily titled’ towards PS3.

That’s according to research firm ABI, which notes that consumer take-up of non-PS3 Blu-Ray players has not been encouraging.

According to GameDaily, ABI believes: Sony’s Blu-ray format finally triumphed over HD DVD earlier this year, but a victory dance may be a bit premature.”

ABI principal analyst Steve Wilson writes:

"The studios better hope that people are playing movies on their PlayStations. Otherwise there’s very little installed base.

"In 2008 about 85 per cent of Blu-Ray players in the market will be found in PS3s; the dedicated consumer electronics and PC-based types of Blu-Ray players won’t catch up in terms of market share until about 2013."

According to ABI, standard DVD consumers are finding new ways to better the presentation of the old format, rather than shelling out for standalone Blu-Ray players.

"We are starting to see an increase in the number of DVD players with built-in ‘upconverters’, and the video processing is getting better with each new generation," added Wilson.

"Today about 35 per cent of all DVD players sold include upconversion. ABI Research expects that figure to climb to about 60 per cent by 2013."

In an effort to push Blu-Ray’s appeal beyond the PS3 market, PC manufacturers are starting to offer lower-cost configurations. But it may not ultimately matter, said Wilson:

"If you’re only going to spend $500-600 on a PC, are you really going to spend 40 per cent more for a built-in Blu-Ray player?"