Seems I was able to answer one of my questions:

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/01/07/daily34.html

An excerpt:

"One out of every four U.S. homes is equipped with a DVD player, leading to DVD sales topping sales of VHS tapes for the first time, according to figures released Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show by the DVD Entertainment Group.

Consumers spent $4.6 billion buying DVDs, 2.4 times more than in 2000, an increase that put DVD purchases ahead of VHS purchases for the first time despite an installed player base of 25 million DVD households versus a VCR installed player base of 96 million households, it says."


So 25 million DVD players by the end of 2001. Roughly 4 years after the introduction of the format to the market.

edit : well, almost 5 years after the format hit the streets.

I have never said this and if you repeat this lie, I will take action.

 BD still has 2 years to hit that mark, yet people think it can't.What is even more incredible about what you just posted is that 3 years prior they only sold 1.1 million in the entire year.

People think BD is going to fail because they expect all successful products to start out like the Wii, lost cost, huge sales. Unfortunately optical media doesn't work that way.

No they weren't. I bought a Sony DVD player in the spring of 1997 for $399 when there were literally twelve movies released for the format.

A quick search provided this:

http://www.starlaser.com/hardware.htm

And by 2000 when the PS2 released, I found links showing they were down to less than $150.

BTW, that 1.1m in 1998 is for the US only. 

1) they have sold less blu-ray movies than there are installed players (ps3+standalone) by several million

2) those are certain blockbuster movies, just like certain blockbuster ps3 games sell well but overall the system isn't selling many games

3) 10% of sales means more like 7% of discs sold, since blu-ray discs cost more than dvds to buy

4) we are now 2 years after their launch, so they have 2 more years to overtake dvd sales if they are to penetrate as fast as dvd did

this will happen if they get to be sub-$100 soon, as that is when the price:value ratio will make it worth it for average consumer

Well , I bought my first Pioneer DVD recorder in January 2003, at US$300. It recored from 1x to 4x, DVD-R, DVD-RW. I burned a couple hundred 1x discs, 4x media was still no a good deal and I couldn't burn +R media which minimum writing speed was 2.4x (but also as expensive as 4x - R) so taking 1 full hour to burn 4.37 GB for $300  was a good a deal I was going to get in 2003.

 Then you must have gotten a good deal in 1997 for just $399.99 considering the link you sent me was 1999 pricetags with 2 DVD players just over $300-350. 2 over $400, 1 over $500 and another over $900.2 years after you paid $400, the price increased?

I know sometimes people get deals, but you getting one for $399 does not negate the fact that they did in fact costs alot more than what you paid. Specially with you getting a DVD player for 1/3rd the launch price. Considering it lauched in Spring 1997.

Yes it was cheaper in 2000. 1999 was when sales surged due to price drops on the hardware and movies. Same time when DVD sales just about quadrupled.

Let us just hope though that BD follows this path and drops prices at some point this year. Maybe by the holiday season?

BD is slowly taking off, but with sales lower than total PS3 alone sold, not even counting stand-alone players, I don't wonder it still hasn't given a substantial boost to PS3, I'd say it happened more the opposite. Anyway it's a small victory now for Sony, but with a big potential for the future, but I wouldn't hold my breath, it will pay in the mid and long term, not in the short one.

I won't believe that Blu-ray is going to be dominant until i see that casual movie watchers actually buy it. DVD was clearly the successor, it was known far before that and everyone was literally waiting for the price to buy one. With blu-ray i just don't see that, I don't think most people care at all. At some point is actually has to sell the stand alone players in masses for this to happen. Eventually it might get adopted, but the price is gonna have to get very close to DVD, along with the movies.

One thing that could be a huge obstacle to BR that didn't exist when DVD was released is movie piracy. It's growing at an astounding rate and already killing video rental stores and making the DVD/BR market shrink. The low prices of DVD right now are caused by piracy. If it weren't for the high box office revenues they get, we would see the same losses that the big labels have to endure.