The global standalone Blu-ray Disc player market is projected to grow 19% in 2012, with an installed base to hit the 100 million unit mark as consumers continue to migrate from DVD to Blu-ray, according to Strategy Analytics' recent forecast.

Over 27% of North American consumers currently own at least one standalone Blu-ray players, but the global penetration rate is only just reaching 5%.

While consumer adoption of BD player will rise, the retail market value is expected to decline from $5.4bn in 2011 to $5bn by 2017 (1% CAGR), according to the analysts' report Blu-ray Disc Player Forecast by Country.

"Content streaming and increasing broadband capacity is clearly posing serious threat on physical media," says report author, Jia Wu, Director of Strategy Analytics' Connected Home Devices service. "However, the demand for better and stable quality of video content and the lack of sufficient Internet bandwidth in some regions are driving the growth of BD player."

"The TV industry will gradually move to 4K Ultra HD in the next couple of years, and if the Internet bandwidth cannot catch up for high quality video streaming, it is likely that they will opt for a stable high quality entertainment experience," adds Wu.

"Blu-ray disc players are the forgotten technology of the digital age, but have the potential to play a key role in delivering smart TV services and apps," notes David Mercer, VP and Principal Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "In fact Blu-ray was one of the first mass market consumer platforms to support internet-delivered video services. Blu-ray vendors could do a better job of emphasizing these benefits alongside the obvious superiority of the Blu-ray format in delivering 1080p video quality."

Story filed 12.11.12