Up till recent, the Blu-ray seemed to be ahead of its competitor in terms of sold players, as each sold PlayStation 3 also accounted as a Blu-ray unit. Furthermore, the Sony-backed camp was leading in terms of disc sales.
Then again, the HD DVD camp narrowed the gap with the recent price drop for Toshiba’s A2 player, which was set to retail below the $200. Add to this the limited A2 for $99 limited deal and you can have a clear picture.
On the disc side, the HD DVD version of Transformers sold over 100,000 units during its first day of release and over 190,000 HD DVDs in its first week, thus turning the movie into the fastest and best-selling week one release on either high definition format.
All in all, the HD DVD is gaining up on all fronts. Furthermore, the Microsoft-Toshiba-backed camp features the lower prices for next-gen players. These being the conditions, it’s no wonder Stringer now states that he wish could go back in time and arranger some sort of collaboration between the two camps.
Unfortunately, it’s too little too late for both competitors. The war is on and analysts predicts that a winner in unlikely to emerge in the next two years.