Blu-Ray and Physical Formats Will Continue to Dominate

From X-bit Labs: Andy Parsons, the chairman of the Blu-ray disc association said in an interview that the adoption rate of the Blu-ray disc format is the same as compared to DVD during the same period of the format’s lifespan. The head of BDA refuted comments presumably issued by Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, who said that the Blu-ray would demise rather sooner than later like Super Audio CD or DVD Audio formats.

“According to market analysis, the Blu-ray disc’s adoption rate is very similar to that of DVD at the same time of its lifespan (18 million of U.S. homes utilized Blu-ray in Q1 2010, the same as the penetration of DVD in Q1 of the fifth year on the market of that size – Adams Media Research), we agree that the Internet will increase its importance thanks to streaming or downloading the content, but we do believe that the physical media like Blu-ray Disc will continue to dominate for many years, due to ease of use, high durability and certainly the ability to deliver high definition experience and quality available anywhere,” said Andy Parsons, the chairman of the BDA, in an interview with Setteb.it web-site.

Even though Apple is a part of the Blu-ray disc association, it has never released a single product that supports Blu-ray out of the box. The end-users can still acquire an external drive from a third party and enjoy Blu-ray technology without Apple’s help.

It is pretty understandable that Apple’s Steve Jobs does not want to have another physical format: Apple makes tremendous amounts of money on its iTunes business, which sells music and which lends movies. Regrettably, neither iTunes nor competing online platforms allow watching movies with the same quality and bit-rate as Blu-ray does, but for Mr. Jobs even 720p resolution seems to be enough. In fact, the head of Apple does not see any value in the physical formats at all nowadays.

Manufacturers of consumer electronics can live without Blu-ray format since their products, such as televisions or players or receivers will still be in demand. The fact that the head of BDA – which is formed by makers of consumer electronics – refutes claims made by Mr. Jobs clearly points out that there is still a place for physical formats. Moreover, even PC makers these days integrate Blu-ray drives into their products, an indicator that there is indeed end-user demand for high-end movie watching experience.

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