HD DVD Sales Double in May

The HD DVD Promotions Group said Monday that its strategy of price cuts seems to be paying off - sales have skyrocketed, it claims.

HD DVD has regained its lead over Blu-ray, now holding 60 percent of all high-definition set-top players sold. In addition, the format was able to set an all-time record for titles sold in May, with 75,000 discs shipped.

In total, the high-definition content market has expanded to a $5.2 million business last week, 31 percent higher than the previous record, which includes sales for both formats.

Price drops are being cited as the reason for much of the rapid uptick in HD DVD. When Toshiba dropped its players from $499 to $399 USD, the company saw a doubling in sales. It has seen a similar doubling with latest price drop.

"Behind the increase in sales for hardware and movies, you're seeing fundamentally lower manufacturing costs and ease of authoring for HD DVD," North American HD DVD Promotional Group chair Craig Kornblau said. "That's the type of model that can scale."

So far 150,000 stand-alone players have been sold, and the format still maintains a 4 to 1 attach rate over Blu-ray.