Singulus Technologies, a major purveyor of new optical disc players, has recently announced that customers are flocking to Blu-ray at a rate faster than they adopted DVDs over a decade ago. The company has reported that it received 21 orders to create Blu-ray dual-layer machines in the first quarter, much greater than the 17 orders placed eleven years ago when DVD players emerged as the eventual replacement for VHS tapes.

Singulus CEO Stefan Baustert states that the level of orders has "already by far exceeded the volume at the start of the DVD," and shows consumers are perhaps more interested in buying a "next-gen" video player than Microsoft’s Robbie Bach would like to believe.

It is not a surprise, considering the prevalence of high-def TVs, that Blu-ray would catch on a bit more quickly than DVDs. For starters, consumers are already familiar with the disc format, unlike before, when the idea of a DVD was new and strange, and some were still smarting from the failure of LaserDisc. Furthermore, given the fact that more and more TV stations are broadcasting in HD and that people are beginning to want to see this same level of quality in their video purchases.

This is obviously all good news to Sony, standard-bearer of Blu-ray, as it means the company will continue seeing PS3 sales rise as many flock to the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market. Also, given Microsoft and Toshiba’s decision to abandon HD DVD, Blu-ray is now the only kid on the block for next-gen video playback.

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Danny
DVD News Editor
http://www.dvd-and-media.com