Blu-ray camp sets timetable for HD-DVD defeat

Blu-ray will 'crush HD-DVD within three years'

The chairman of the European Blu-ray Disc Association was in bullish mood at the start of CeBIT, claiming that his format will have crushed HD-DVD within three years.

Sony's PlayStation 3 console has greatly increased the take-up of Blu-ray media in Japan and the US, although sales are negligible in Europe where the games platform has yet to launch.

"Asia and the US may be the early adopters, but we expect the European markets to follow suit," said Blu-ray Disc Association European chairman Frank Simonis.

"The truism is that content is king, and Blu-ray Disc has that content. The mass impact of the Blu-ray Disc-equipped PS3 is already handing Blu-ray Disc the massive advantage of a 700 per cent increase in software sales since mid-November."

Simonis claimed that Blu-ray Disc had 96 per cent of the high definition player market in Japan at the end of 2006, and that over 1.8 million PS3s had been shipped.

A survey conducted for the European Blu-ray Disc Association said that 80 per cent of owners intended to buy films for the console.

"Seven out of eight major Hollywood studios already release titles on Blu-ray Disc, and five of these are exclusive to this format [Buena Vista, Lion's Gate, MGM, Sony, 20th Century Fox]," said Simonis.

However, Blu-ray's increased market share has proved expensive for Sony given the amount of money it loses on each console.

In addition, Microsoft is rolling out an Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on costing around £90, far less than the price of a PS3.