A new Harris Poll of more than 2,500 American adults (surveyed online) in April found no rush toward Blu-ray Disc as the next best thing to replace standard DVD, although combined penetration figures are approaching double digits if you include game console sales.
While the survey reveals a continuing heavy presence of standard DVD players in the home (87 percent), about 4 percent now own standalone Blu-ray players. But slightly more (5 percent) own PlayStation 3 game consoles (each with its own internal Blu-ray drive)—for a total Blu-ray penetration rate of 9 percent. (Ironically, standalone HD DVD units in the survey stood at 6 percent home penetration for the now-defunct standard.)
Yet another 9-percent figure reared its head, too: Only 9 percent of current non-Blu-ray consumers said they were likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player within the next year (including the 2008 holiday season)—even when they were made fully aware that Blu-ray is now the lone HD disc technology. (In fact, nearly 70 percent of those surveyed said they already knew of Blu-ray’s victory earlier this year over HD DVD.)
Still, only about a third of those surveyed (35 percent) were even technically in the ballpark to buy Blu-ray players; this is the group that now owns an HD television set. Therefore, the survey appears to indicate that less than a third of current HD set owners are interested in purchasing a Blu-ray player (or Blu-ray via PS3) in the foreseeable future.
