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Blu-ray breaking through
Christmas sorts out the technology
It is starting to look like Blu-ray players and Blu-ray content is actually starting to sell. After winning the high definition disk war with HD DVD, Blu-ray has not actually gained enough traction in the market this year.
However, signs are that Blu-ray is finally starting to sell. In Britain, Futuresource reports consumers bought 462,500 Blu-ray discs in November, an increase of 165 per cent from October. In France, Blu-ray's share of the optical disk market is expected to double next year to 6 percent. In Europe, overall Blu-ray player sales are expected to reach 2.5 million units in 2009 without including the PlayStation 3.
In Japan, research firm GFK Retail and Technology reports Blu-ray disc recorders have surpassed 50 percent market share, a significant increase from October 2007 when Blu-ray disc recorders accounted for only 10 percent of the market. GFK also reports Blu-ray is replacing DVD 1.5 times faster than DVD replaced VHS.
The Blu-ray version of the “The Dark Knight” sold 600,000 copies in one day, according to TVPredictions, breaking records for high definition disk sales.