Blu-ray has a 2:1 lead over HD DVDs

Blu-ray outsells HD-DVD in U.S. for first 9 months. According to Home Media Research, sales of Blu-ray titles from January 1st to September 30th of this year now total 2.6-million units, while the HD DVD camp has moved some 1.4-million flicks in the same period.

Paramount Home Video said that “Transformers” had the biggest debut of any high-definition titles, selling over 100,000 HD-DVDs on Oct 16, its first day of release.

Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, also said the 18-month period of exclusivity for HD-DVDs by Paramount and DreamWorks should strengthen HD-DVD’s hand this quarter.

“This definitely smooths out the edge that Blu-ray had in exclusive titles and it very much strengthens HD-DVD’s hand in the fourth quarter,” he said, but still expects Blu-ray will lead for the year overall. Adams predicts that for 2007 overall, consumers will spend $186 million purchasing Blu-ray discs, versus $91 million for HD-DVD.

One big factor giving Blu-ray an edge has been the popularity of Sony’s PlayStation 3 game consoles, which also include a Blu-ray disc drive.

[ Via EngadgetHD ]