Although it is unclear why, Best Buy has been given a one month exclusive head start for the Universal Blu-ray films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
The two titles are currently available at the retail chain, and Universal says they won’t be available anywhere else until September 22nd.
Besy Buy has long been considered the top retailer for Blu-ray films and both films are expected to sell well.
It also appears that Best Buy has been given an exclusive run with the Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Blu-ray Grace which will become available elsewhere on September 15th.
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According to Futuresource Consulting, despite slower than expected growth, Blu-ray software sales
will account for 50 percent of all home entertainment business by 2012.
Additionally, the company lowered its expectations for 2009, from 95 million discs sold to 75 million discs, specifically citing weak attachment rate with PlayStation 3s, which remain the most popular Blu-ray players. According to the group, PS3 owners only purchase 2 Blu-ray films per year, while standalone owners purchase 5-8 per year.
“This is all about pricing,” adds Alison Casey, Futuresource head of global content. “In 2012, you’ll see entry-level Blu-ray pricing at $50. At that point, Blu-ray will become mass market.”
Blu-ray sales will continue to help offset declining DVD revenues, caused by a saturated market which is now forced to sell DVDs at cheaper prices than ever in history.
“Blu-ray is vital and important to keeping disc volume healthy,” said Casey. “Blu-ray is going to help sustain a flat packaged-media market.”
Futuresource also adds that Blu-ray owners are unusually heavy media consumers, in comparison to non-BD owners.
A recent survey by the group says “85% of Blu-ray households said they buy discs versus 62% of non-Blu-ray owners.” For purchasing new movies online, “the breakdown was 11% Blu-ray, 3% non-owners.”
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Apple has announced the addition of HD quality movies to its popular iTunes platform this week, giving users a chance to rent or purchase the movies in a much higher bitrate than current standard definition versions.
HD rentals were formerly only available to Apple TV owners but is now available to all Mac and PC users that have an iTunes account.
An new release HD movie rental will cost $4.99 and older catalog titles will cost $3.99 USD. The standard definition counterpart runs $1 cheaper. If you prefer to purchase the movie, the HD film will cost $19.99 USD, a discount from a physical Blu-ray film for the most part, but a steep premium from SD purchases.
Apple notes that over 250 million TV episodes have been purchased from the iTunes store along with 33 million movies.
