Posted Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 11:21 PM PDT by
Home Media Magazine is reporting a narrow Blu-ray disc sales victory for the week ending Oct 21, disputing Paramount's previously released sales numbers for HD DVD edition of 'The Transformers.'
According to the just-published report, Blu-ray won the week by a thin margin that amounts to 51% of the high-def discs sold, versus 49% for HD DVD. Although a two percent lead is certainly not commanding, many were expecting the HD DVD camp to win the week, thanks in large part to Paramount's high-profile HD DVD exclusive release of Transformers.
As we've previously reported, earlier this week Paramount issued a press release projecting record-breaking first-week sales of 190,000 units. Home Media Magazine disputes Paramount's numbers, estimating the actual number of units that sold through to consumers as closer to 115,000.
Some have theorized that Blu-ray's strong showing for the week in the face of such strong sales for 'The Transformers' is attributable in part to a series of "buy one get one free" offers extended by Disney at such leading retailers as Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.
In any case, here's betting these latest sales numbers will give both formats something to crow about this Friday. On the HD DVD side, 'The Transformers' propelled the format to its strongest weekly showing against its next-gen rival in over nine months; on the Blu-ray side, even up against the third biggest box office grosser of the year, the Sony-backed format still managed to eke out a victory.
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