Blu-ray Adoption Rising Fast, Thanks to PS3
Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) game consoles are driving the adoption of Blu-ray and will continue to do so through 2009, when stand-alone players finally become the dominant form factor, according to research released last week by the Strategy Analytics connected Home Devices service.
PC vendors such as Dell are already trying to grab their slice of the Blu-ray pie. Dell last week said it is offering an Inspiron 1525 notebook with an optional Blu-ray drive for under $900.
Blu-ray device sales in 2008 are predicted to hit 18.8 million units, including 4 million stand-alone players, 13 million game consoles and nearly 2 million PCs, the research shows.
This year, 10 percent of U.S. households are predicted to own at least one Blu-ray device, a figure that is expected to jump to 20 percent in 2009 and 44 percent by 2012, according to the research. That's up from 4 percent of U.S. households in 2007.
More than 132 million homes worldwide are expected to own at least one Blu-ray device by 2012.