Blu-ray Enjoyed Record Sales During 2013 Holidays

8 Jan, 2014 By: John Latchem

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Amid the growing focus on the transition toward digital delivery, Blu-ray Disc quietly enjoyed its best ever month of sales, including the three best weeks in the history of the high-definition format.

According to data compiled by Home Media Research, Blu-ray Disc sales in December 2013 amounted to approximately $416 million, up from the $404 million of Blu-ray sales in December 2012.

In the holiday shopping season extending from Black Friday to the end of the year, the 2013 Blu-ray sales tally of $535 million fell short to the $578 million from the year before, but the gap is easily accounted for considering Thanksgiving fell a week earlier in 2012, giving consumers an extra shopping week. Average weekly Blu-ray sales in the 2013 holiday season amounted to $107 million, compared with $96 million in 2012.

The week of Dec. 8-14 set a record for weekly Blu-ray sales with $127.1 million, with the pre-Christmas week of Dec. 15-21 coming in at No. 2 all-time with $125.11 million in Blu-ray sales. The $119.15 million from the 2013 Black Friday week of Nov. 24-30 was good for No. 3 all-time.

The previous record for Blu-ray sales came in the week before Christmas 2012 — $115.63 million from Dec. 16-22 of that year.

In terms of unit sales, the 2013 Black Friday week saw 11.16 million Blu-ray transactions, also a record, surpassing the 9.9 million from Black Friday 2012.

In terms of market share, Blu-ray grew in 2013 to account for 30.5% of packaged-media revenue and 20.3% of unit sales, up from 26.6% and 17.7%, respectively, in 2012.

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