Will Universal give in to the Blu-ray pressure?

The format wars is certainly not over yet, but with Blockbuster‘s decision to support Blu-ray movies only, Universal Studios may very well feel the pressure for them to start publishing movies in Blu-ray discs as well, or so Variety reports.

Universal Studios is the only major entertainment outfit that does not support Blu-ray. Variety supposes that should Universal agree to at least put out titles on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, the format wars may suddenly be turned upside down, or be brought to a swift conclusion. Consumers who opted to wait for the format wars to end before buying may want to jump ship to Blu-ray once they find out that the blue laser plays movies from all studios. Richard Dotty, Envisioneering Group tech guru agreed:

So much consumer interest would open up this summer and fall that every studio would be smiling and wondering why they’ve been jousting all this time. Universal may continue to place its bets (on HD DVD). But if you want revenue, you put out what consumers want. And right now consumers want Blu-ray.

But despite the mounting pressure, Universal is still adamant in supporting HD-DVD. Ken Graffeo, executive vice president for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said that Toshiba‘s HD-DVD players are now enjoying 70% market share. However, it should be noted that one of the causes of Blu-ray’s traction is that it was built into the PlayStation 3 consoles.

Graffeo also added that the high definition disc market is still too young for Universal to publish titles in Blu-ray, saying that it’s still hard to gauge how much impact selling Blu-ray discs will have on their sales.

The format wars is certainly not over yet, but with Blockbuster‘s decision to support Blu-ray movies only, Universal Studios may very well feel the pressure for them to start publishing movies in Blu-ray discs as well, or so Variety reports.

Universal Studios is the only major entertainment outfit that does not support Blu-ray. Variety supposes that should Universal agree to at least put out titles on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, the format wars may suddenly be turned upside down, or be brought to a swift conclusion. Consumers who opted to wait for the format wars to end before buying may want to jump ship to Blu-ray once they find out that the blue laser plays movies from all studios. Richard Dotty, Envisioneering Group tech guru agreed:

So much consumer interest would open up this summer and fall that every studio would be smiling and wondering why they’ve been jousting all this time. Universal may continue to place its bets (on HD DVD). But if you want revenue, you put out what consumers want. And right now consumers want Blu-ray.

But despite the mounting pressure, Universal is still adamant in supporting HD-DVD. Ken Graffeo, executive vice president for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said that Toshiba‘s HD-DVD players are now enjoying 70% market share. However, it should be noted that one of the causes of Blu-ray’s traction is that it was built into the PlayStation 3 consoles.

Graffeo also added that the high definition disc market is still too young for Universal to publish titles in Blu-ray, saying that it’s still hard to gauge how much impact selling Blu-ray discs will have on their sales.