Posted Thu Nov 8, 2007 at 10:16 AM PST by
Format backers say the total number of standalone HD DVD players sold is poised to hit the 500,000 mark by late November.
That's according to a report published late Thursday by Home Media Magazine, which places the current total household penetration for HD DVD standalones at about 420,000 units.
This news comes on the heels of reports earlier this week that roughly 90,000 HD DVD standalones were sold last weekend alone, following highly-publicized price drops for Toshiba's HD-A2 HD DVD player.
While passing the 500,000 unit mark would certainly seem to cement the HD DVD camp's overall lead in standalone player sales, it still pales in comparison to the installed base of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, which comes with a built-in Blu-ray player. (According to the website vgchartz.com, over 2.2 million PS3s have been sold in the US to date).
Of course, as HD DVD backers will be quick to point out, the majority of PS3 owners are said to not use the console as a Blu-ray player.
What effect all of this may (or may not) have on next-gen disc sales remains to seen. As we've previously reported, year-to-date figures from Home Media Research gave Blu-ray a 1.85:1 disc sales advantage for the first nine months of 2007.
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