DVD format war to rage on

Market watchers believe there is "no end in sight" in the format war over blue laser disc technologies being fought between HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

"There is no clear-cut winner in the HD-DVD versus Blu-ray format war," said In-Stat analyst Alice Zhang.

"In-Stat believes that the universal combination player, which plays HD-DVD and Blu-ray, will not be a sustainable solution as it exists today as its current price is higher than the price to purchase the two players separately."

According to In-Stat, sales of DVD player units declined from 126.4 million in 2005 to 124.8 million in 2006, while DVD recorder sales rose from 14 million in 2005 to 16 million in 2006.

The report found that combined worldwide DVD player and recorder sales reached 141.2 million units in 2006.

Japan reached its peak for DVD player sales in 2003, while North American and European DVD player shipments peaked in 2005, and shipments will continue to decrease in those regions this year.

• In-Stat report: Who's Blu? Next-Generation DVD Players and Recorders