The European HD-DVD Promotion Group has announced that group member Toshiba has the leading share of the European market for standalone HD players, according to independent pan-European research by worldwide market research specialist GFK.
Exact figures show a 74 per cent market share for the period January to May this year, with Tosh’s HD-E1 leading the charge with a 72 per cent acceleration in sales figures in May alone.
The key word here is ‘standalone’, meaning sales of the PS3 and its incorporated Blu-ray drive are not included, which would dramatically affect the final result. But as Steve Nickerson, senior VP of HD Media at Warner Bros says, ‘These figures are especially important because the standalone player market is by far the biggest driver of movie sales in the long-term…
Those who buy a standalone player are interested solely in buying and watching movies and other video content, whereas those with HD drives built into games consoles are primarily interested in games.’
The debate continues to rage then. Great.
Story: Duncan Madden
