Format war holding back DVD sales

Two-thirds of consumers will delay an HD purchasing decision until one format leads the market

Consumers will stick to traditional DVD and VHS players until either Blu-ray or HD-DVD take a clear lead in the market, new research reports.

The latest Consumer Behaviour Report from PriceGrabber.com shows that consumers are "indecisive" because of the battle being waged between the rival HD formats.

Warner Bros' recent withdrawal of support for Toshiba's HD-DVD format has intensified the debate as to whether Blu-ray or HD-DVD will dominate.

The survey results reveal that 54 per cent of those who anticipate buying a high-definition product in the next year will pick a Blu-ray player over an HD-DVD player, a standard DVD player and integrated video game consoles.

Meanwhile, 37 per cent of men and 42 per cent of women surveyed do not anticipate purchasing any high-definition product in the near future.

Support for Blu-ray from major film companies continues to increase as more studios dump HD-DVD. Merchants on PriceGrabber.com offer 25 per cent more titles in Blu-ray than HD-DVD.

However, 63 per cent of consumers indicated that they plan to put off a purchasing decision until one format leads the market.

Additionally, 56 per cent of those surveyed indicated they would purchase a Blu-ray player if they saw significant price drops. Blu-ray players are currently nearly twice as expensive as HD-DVD players.