Blu-ray is winning the DVD format war, says Sony

Sony has declared that Blu-ray is already winning the next-gen DVD format war, with discs outselling HD-DVD by a ratio of more than two to one.

The company is quoting a report by consumer research firm Nielsen VideoScan which states that Blu-ray is winning in the cumulative sales stakes. During the first week of January, 47.14 HD-DVD movie discs were sold in the US for every 100 Blu-ray films shifted.

During the second week that ratio increased even further, with 38.36 HD-DVD titles sold per 100 Blu-ray discs.

Sony has also announced the results of an online survey in which 100,000 PlayStation 3 owners took part. In total, 90 per cent said they had watched a Blu-ray film on their console, and 80 per cent said they planned to buy more movies in the future. In addition, per cent said they intended to rent Blu-ray films.

Many games industry analysts have predicted that the battle between Blu-ray and the Toshiba-backed HD-DVD format will be key to determining who wins the battle of the next-gen consoles.

Last year, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter observed that Sony would have an "insurmountable advantage" over Microsoft if movie studios adopt Blu-ray as the standard.

Microsoft released a HD-DVD player for Xbox 360 in the US last November. According to NPD data around 42,000 units were purchased during its first month on sale, rising to 50,000 in December.