Blu-Ray hits the skids, numbers continue to decline

of course in order to play the blu-ray disc youll need a blu-ray player and if you have one of those youll surely have bought at least one ultra definition better than you blu-ray dvd to prove to your ego that all that expense was worthwhile. No doubt you will even have already bored your friends witless with your new 'I'm better than you show off device'

The article doesn't say that there's a problem with PS3 sales, it says there's a decline in the sales of Blu-Ray media. You are correct, the numbers should be provided. However it's been shown during the format war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD that while PS3s are capable of playing BR movies, that is not the purpose for which most buyers use them. The attach rates among PS3 owners had always been lower than the numbers for HD DVD owners (that is, the average number of movies a person who owns a PS3 or BR player owns). This is a number that Toshiba and it's partners constantly cited, the fact that the number of movies purchased by the average owner of an HD DVD player was far greater than the number purchased by the average PS3 owner.Certainly more PS3s were sold than HD DVD players, meaning a larger installed base and therefore a larger total number of movies being sold. Yet the more important stat in this case is this: PS3 buyers are buying PS3s to play games on, not watch movies on. This is compounded by the fact that many owners of PS3s (and XBox 360s) don't even have HDTVs. They are completely happy playing on standard definition TVs, and therefore would not benefit from the enhanced resolution of BR discs. Another large chunk of consumers is completely satisfied with DVD quality picture and see no need to replace it, especially when it means upgrading the entire home theater in order to get the full benefits of the new technology. New television sets, and new audio components compatible with 7.1 surround are required to get the full-effect (though they are quite compatible with 5.1 systems). Also with the upconversion technology enhancing the consumer's existing collection up to near-HD quality (Toshiba's new XDE upconverting DVD player is said to be nearly indistinguishable from Blu-Ray from normal viewing distance on 50inch or smaller screens), there is just no compelling reason for many to go out and buy expensive new players during this economic slowdown.I don't think Blu-Ray will really take off until movies are the same price as their DVD counterparts and players hit the $199.99 mark. People won't bother to spend 25% more to get the same movie in HD, unless they're true enthusiasts ... and that's a very small part of the market.