The NY Post has just published a new article on the next-gen DVD format war. According to writer Lou Lumenick, retailers are set to abandon the HD DVD format next year due to lagging sales.
The Departed recently premiered on both formats, and the Blu-ray version came up trumps, selling more copies than the HD DVD version. According to the article:
...sales of Blu-ray discs have exploded to nearly three times those of HD DVD discs since Christmas.
It's the first clear sign that consumers are choosing sides in the nastiest video format war since VHS emerged victorious over Sony's Betamax machines in the 1980s.
"The format war is in its final phase," crows Steve Feldstein of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which, like Sony and Disney, is releasing titles exclusively on Blu-ray. "It's never been a question of if Blu-ray will pass HD DVD, but a matter of when."
Some retailers are now claiming it's safe to buy a Blu-ray players without fear that that the format will lose. Analyst Alison Casey, from London's Understanding & Solutions group predicts that retailers will abandon the format some time in 2008. Reffering to European retailers, Casey said:
"They never wanted two formats. It confuses consumers and creates problems with them with returns. They're looking to go to a single format as soon as possible."