Thanks to the demise of HD DVD and increased Blu-ray retail momentum, next-gen disc sales are starting to carve out a bigger slice of the home video pie, a new report suggests.
According to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert numbers conducted by Home Media Magazine, Disney's Blu-ray chart-topper 'No Country for Old Men' drew 9.8 percent of its total unit sales from Blu-ray during its first five days in stores.
Faring even better was Fox's 'Hitman,' which saw 12.6 percent of total customers taking home the Blu-ray version during its first five days.
By comparison, high-def percentages during the height of the format war rarely topped 2 to 3 percent of a title's total disc sales. (Even 2007's biggest high-def seller, the HD DVD-only release of 'Transformers,' generated little more than 4 percent of its total unit sales from the next-gen version.)
Adams Media Research analyst Tom Adams cited a newfound sense of confidence among consumers as the main reason for Blu-ray's recent siege on DVD market share, as many of those previously waiting out the format war may now be willing to dip their toes in the Blu waters.
"Before, there was a tendency to play it safe and stick with the standard DVD," Adams said. "But now there's no longer anything to worry about."
Adams also expects to see Blu-ray disc sales continue to boom throughout the rest of calendar year, fueled by increasing penetration of Blu-ray hardware and sales of Sony's Blu-ray-driven PlayStation 3.