We've reported on a US survey showing that Blu ray is outselling HD DVD, but the picture is quite different in the UK and Europe.
Though the raw numbers are tiny, HDTV Org reports that, according to 'the official UK charts company', HD DVD outsold Blu-ray by 4 to 1 in the period leading up to Christmas 2006.
And what of those raw numbers? 8,200 HD DVD movies sold to Blu-ray's 1,834. That's around 10,000 high definition discs sold in total in the UK.
Proof that this really is still an early adopters market, and probably due in part to HD DVD players (particularly the Xbox 360 add-on) being more readily available here. When the PS3 and other Blu-ray players arrive here, the tables could be turned.
Related: HD DVD vs Blu-ray: What's available in the UK today?
The tables could be turned? With over 1 million blu-ray playing PS3's in homes by the end of March, and 500,000 copies of Casino Royale dished out free by Sony, yeah, you could say the tables will turn.
Basically, HD-DVD will be effectively dead within a month or so of 23rd March. I've got blu-ray movies on pre-order, I very much doubt I'm the only one. And with Play.com offering a paltry 21 HD-DVD movies against 60+ blu-ray movies, I don't think the HD-DVD brigade have a lot to shout about! Those 360 add-ons will soon be redundant, and of course, they won't be watching Casino Royale.