The Harris Poll of 2,529 U.S. adults surveyed online between April 7 and 15, 2008 by Harris Interactive found that:
° Ownership of standard DVD players is practically ubiquitous (87 percent);
° Few report owning Blu-ray disc players (four percent), Sony PlayStation 3 (five percent), HD DVD players (six percent) and the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox (one percent have an external drive while nine percent have an Xbox 360);
° Only nine percent of non-Blu-ray player owners report being likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player within the next year, even when made fully aware that Blu-ray is considered to be the definitive technology for high definition DVD players going forward;
° Two-thirds of consumers are familiar with the recently resolved high-definition format war (67 percent) and seven in 10 of them have heard that Blu-ray is the unofficial winner (69 percent);
° Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of those aware of the format war report that they had been waiting for the rivalry to play itself out before purchasing a high definition player, but by April they had yet to do so;
° Although one-third of consumers report owning a high definition television set (HDTV; 35 percent), with incidence higher among males (41 percent) versus females (28 percent) and rising decidedly with household income (15 percent for those with less than $35K vs. 53 percent among those with $75K+), the percentage of HDTV owners likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player is only 14 percent;
° Current ownership of Blu-ray disc players among HDTV owners stands at 10 percent.
"Since Blu-ray disc player pricing averages more than $300, which is well above the cost for the latest generation of standard DVD players with up-converters, Blu-ray disc players may be encountering price sensitivity despite the advanced technology," says Joan Barten Kline, vice president of the Harris Interactive Media & Entertainment Practice.
What's more, interest in a Blu-ray disc player with Internet connectivity expected to be out in the fall in a higher price range is also lacking:
° U.S. adults are more likely to purchase a Sony PlayStation 3 that plays Blu-ray discs and has Internet access for US$399 (11 percent) or an original Blu-ray disc player without connectivity for the same price (10 percent) versus a new Blu-ray disc player with Internet for $500-$650 (four percent);
° Not surprisingly, the under 40 crowd is most likely to opt for the PlayStation 3 as their Blu-ray capable device of choice -- fully 23 percent of those in the 30-39 age group are likely to purchase this device in the next year (compared to 14 percent likely to buy an original Blu-ray disc player or the new Blu-ray disc player with Internet connectivity, five percent)).
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