While I do agree with you, did you see the article I posted about Best Buy scaling back their DVD shelf space?  Kinda interesting.

Just read it. Hardly the most expansive article but if true it would represent I major shift in tactics from the retail sector.

Problem is if the public just dont warm to Blu Ray the numbers you post will barely change.

I still think Blu Ray will become accepted just a lot later than any of us ever expected.

Then the question will have to be asked how long can it reign.

OK, so I know this argument is several weeks old, but this thread only gets the occasional update, so what the h.

People spent far less money on CDs across the board, which crippled the industry.  If you understood the industry, you would know that Best Buy, Walmart, et al sold "loss leader" CDs, but that their selection, short product shelf life, and product knowledge was vastly inferior to actual CD stores, which is why those stores still existed, until the bottom dropped out.  It didn't hurt the big boys becuase they were never really making money on the CDs in the first place, so they switched to other product.  "National Record Mart" couldn't exactly switch from music so easily, and well, that's the result.  I'm really not going to waste many more of my own words arguing with someone who clearly doesn't understand just how badly the music industry, and especially physical media sales, have been hurt by mp3s, so here's a wiki quote:

"In the 21st century, consumers spent far less money on recorded music than they had in 1990s, in all formats. Total revenues for CDs, vinyl, cassettes and digital downloads in the world dropped 25% from $38.6 billion in 1999 to $27.5 billion in 2008 according to IFPI. Same revenues in the U.S. dropped from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999 to $10.4 billion in 2008. The Economist and The New York Times report that the downward trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future^[6][7] —Forrester Research predicts that by 2013, revenues in USA may reach as low as $9.2 billion.^[6] This dramatic decline in revenue has caused large-scale layoffs inside the industry, driven retailers (such as Tower Records) out of business and forced record companies, record producers, studios, recording engineers and musicians to seek new business models.^[8]"

"Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/business/media/26music.html?_r=1

"Last year was terrible for the recorded-music majors. The next few years are likely to be even worse."

http://www.economist.com/node/10498664

Knopper, Steve (2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction: the Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. Free Press. ISBN 1416552154.

Well I wont get into the fact that your qoutes contradict what you are saying.  And you still dont refute my point about the pricing and competition part,  since that is what really drove those companies out of the market. 

But, Explain how this is going to affect Blu-rays?   Since that is what this thread is about and what the arguement started as? 

Here are the numbers for week ending 10/03/2010

Blu-ray Ratio 18:82     Good week but I thought it would be higher

Top 20 Blu-ray Ratio:  42:58      Fantastic week here,  but it was expected with Iron Man 2 pulling 52% on Blu-ray

Top 20 Sellers

Here is a good news article,  looks like standalone Blu-ray players are selling quite well.   This actually makes the weekly numbers a little more dissappointing.  Although this is for US, EU and JPN, whereas the weekly numbers ITT are US only.  

Standalone Blu-ray Player Sales to Top 24m Units in 2010

Sales of Blu-ray players, excluding PS3, are expected to total nearly 24m units this year in the US, Europe and Japan, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting. At least 10% of all Blu-ray devices shipped this year are expected to offer 3D playback, rising to more than 25% in 2011. By 2014, nearly 40% of homes across those three key regions will own a 3D Blu-ray player, recorder or home theater. 

During the fourth quarter of 2010 alone, Futuresource predicts sales in excess of 11 million units, partially thanks to price reductions and sales of HDTVs and 3D-compatible TVs. 

"Last year's crucial Q4 period accounted for nearly half of all BD players that were sold globally in 2009, and the upward trend is continuing, with our projections showing in excess of 80% unit growth across this year," says Jack Wetherill, Research Consultant at Futuresource. "This view is based on inputs from a wide range of companies operating in the global Blu-ray hardware business, including vendors, retailers and component suppliers, and forms part of our ongoing research in this area." 

"Sales of HD-capable and 3D-capable TVs, coupled with dramatic reductions in BD player prices are continuing to fuel interest," Wetherill continues. "Add to that the burgeoning 3D Blu-ray market segment, and we'll see the format continue to gather momentum in all major markets across the globe."

Source: Futuresource | Permalink

Let's not forget that in many parts of Europe the next 14 months are the final phase of the switch-off from analog to digital TV, the most immediate electronic appliance purchase needed by people are either relatively expensive new TVs or cheap decoders, but in both cases, most probably average families with limited budgets will delay purchases of other devices like players and recorders, and also seek advice before buying to avoid odd lots being fobbed off on them.

great week.

Hopefully this christmas blu ray does great.

I like the bolded bit.
The 3d blu ray movies by IMAX (the best 3d to watch) are very cheap on amazon:

£10.99

£10.93

£10.93

£10.93

£10.93

And so on.....

Actually contrary to economic reasoning I believe the psychological aspect of shopping often times over rides what makes sense and people tend to buy other things like players and recorders as well when they purchase a new TV.