Only 1 in 5 people considering HD DVD or Blu Ray!

Well, here’s something which neither Toshiba or Sony would like to hear. A survey of high-volume DVD users by online DVD trading company Peerflix on Wednesday showed that about one in five may buy high-definition DVD players or discs in 2006.

Privately held Peerflix surveyed about 1,100 of its active users, who said they buy an average of five DVDs and rent an average of seven DVDs per month, about how likely they are to buy a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player or discs.

The respondents were predominantly 25- to 44-year-old males with jobs, a wife and no children. Most had DVD collections of at least 50 discs and about a third also rented DVDs online. Six percent of Peerflix said they were “very likely” and 13 percent were “somewhat likely” to buy a high-definition player in 2006.
 
And I wouldn’t disagree with the survey results. Fact is, in the recent fight between the two standards, so much of FUD has been spread around that few people are willing to bet on one standard. And the fight is pretty close too, what with huge juggernauts supporting either standard. I, for one, wouldn’t like to be left out in the cold with my $500 Player which is useless because the studios deny to release content on that medium. And I believe that most consumers think that way.

There will always be those early adopters, the ones which are actually used as guinea pigs by the companies to test their devices. Sometimes, the early buyers are really lucky, case in point, the Sony PSP with its totally insecure firmware. Or they might be really unlucky, case in point, the Xbox 360 with all its overheating.

But the simple fact is that there’s hardly a plausible to buy a HD DVD or a Blu Ray player right now. They’re way too expensive. Yes you get the best video quality right now, and the bragging rights, but most of the prospective buyers would rather wait till one dominating standard emerges, before throwing away their cash.

And that won’t be happening soon. At least not for another year. Daniele Levy, Peerflix’s vice president of marketing said, “We were quite surprised to see that a very small number of those die-hard DVD fans envisioned moving into the high-definition format this year. With all the talk and excitement around high-definition DVD they are still a long way away from moving into that format.”

Microsoft has already said that they will be releasing a HD-DVD attachment which will allow them to watch HD-DVD content using their Xbox 360. Lets see what the Sony brings to the table with its PS3. The fight to be the dominating standard is hotting up. And it’s one battle I’d like to watch from the sidelines. What about you ?

Well, here’s something which neither Toshiba or Sony would like to hear. A survey of high-volume DVD users by online DVD trading company Peerflix on Wednesday showed that about one in five may buy high-definition DVD players or discs in 2006.

Privately held Peerflix surveyed about 1,100 of its active users, who said they buy an average of five DVDs and rent an average of seven DVDs per month, about how likely they are to buy a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player or discs.

The respondents were predominantly 25- to 44-year-old males with jobs, a wife and no children. Most had DVD collections of at least 50 discs and about a third also rented DVDs online. Six percent of Peerflix said they were “very likely” and 13 percent were “somewhat likely” to buy a high-definition player in 2006.
 
And I wouldn’t disagree with the survey results. Fact is, in the recent fight between the two standards, so much of FUD has been spread around that few people are willing to bet on one standard. And the fight is pretty close too, what with huge juggernauts supporting either standard. I, for one, wouldn’t like to be left out in the cold with my $500 Player which is useless because the studios deny to release content on that medium. And I believe that most consumers think that way.

There will always be those early adopters, the ones which are actually used as guinea pigs by the companies to test their devices. Sometimes, the early buyers are really lucky, case in point, the Sony PSP with its totally insecure firmware. Or they might be really unlucky, case in point, the Xbox 360 with all its overheating.

But the simple fact is that there’s hardly a plausible to buy a HD DVD or a Blu Ray player right now. They’re way too expensive. Yes you get the best video quality right now, and the bragging rights, but most of the prospective buyers would rather wait till one dominating standard emerges, before throwing away their cash.

And that won’t be happening soon. At least not for another year. Daniele Levy, Peerflix’s vice president of marketing said, “We were quite surprised to see that a very small number of those die-hard DVD fans envisioned moving into the high-definition format this year. With all the talk and excitement around high-definition DVD they are still a long way away from moving into that format.”

Microsoft has already said that they will be releasing a HD-DVD attachment which will allow them to watch HD-DVD content using their Xbox 360. Lets see what the Sony brings to the table with its PS3. The fight to be the dominating standard is hotting up. And it’s one battle I’d like to watch from the sidelines. What about you ?