One thing last week's figures from Sony on absolute HD DVD and Blu-ray disc sales proved is that the overall volume of sales is still very low - compared to DVD at least.
So entrenched we still are in early adopter territory (regardless of what the manufacturers might have us believe), that it only takes some over-zealous fanboys in one high definition camp or the other to organise a mass buying spree to throw off the sales figures.
Apparently, HD DVD format believers in a popular online discussion forum coordinated the buying of HD DVD en masse, to the point that it altered the Amazon rankings that had until that point been showing Blu-ray dominance.
Blu-ray fans plan to retaliate.
What this proves is that the statistics on which format is leading are fairly irrelevant, and that it only takes a relatively small number of fans to skew the results. The same tactic would be virtually impossible to achieve on the DVD format.
When, and if, high definition formats become popular amongst the general public - the majority of whom don't spend their time in Internet forums organising this kind of activity - we'll have a much better idea which format is the most popular.
From: Battle of Bannockburn educational film to be made in high definition