Figures released today by the British Video Association signal that Blu-ray Discs are set to be a Christmas favourite, as the number of DVD shoppers who trade up to Blu-ray Disc are expected to double during the gifting season, following the trend seen over 2010 and 2011.

The month of December historically takes over a fifth of all annual disc sales. Kantar Worldpanel reports that consumer spending on video gifting rose by 18% in December 2011 compared with the same period in 2009, from £194,390,000 to £228,498,000. It also indicates that DVD buyers are most likely to trade up to high definition Blu-ray Discs in the pre-Christmas shopping period. Blu-ray Disc volume sales are already up 12.9% on 2011 so far this year, according to the Official Chart Company.

Growth is also noticeable in hardware sales. GfK's data show Blu-ray player volumes up by 18% in the 12 months to the end of October, while continued growth is reported in the market for the largest HDTV screens of 43"+, up 30% in the same period and forecast by GfK to reach 1 million units by the end of the year.

Releases expected to lift sales figures in the run-up to Christmas include The Dark Knight Rises (Warner), The Bourne Legacy (Universal), Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (Fox) and The Expendables 2 (Lionsgate)).

Recent popular titles on Blu-ray likely to head for record sales range from Prometheus, where Blu-ray accounts for 45% of this title's disc sales to date, 32% for Avengers Assemble, and 29% on Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, to box sets such as Bond 50 (44% on Blu-ray), Dr Who Series 7, Part 1 (18% on Blu-ray), Game of Thrones First Season (26% on Blu-ray), Harry Potter - The Complete Collection (28% on Blu-ray) and BBC wildlife classics such as Wonders of the Universe which has sold 43% to-date on Blu-ray.

"There are encouraging signs that more people are looking for great quality during the gifting season and while video entertainment is a perennial Christmas favourite, the must-have releases are best enjoyed in high definition Blu-ray at ever more affordable prices," says Lavinia Carey, Director General of the BVA. "With trend-bucking resilience in high-end flat TV sales, increasingly being wall-mounted and accompanied by a sound-bar for improved audio quality, viewers clearly value the benefits of a home-theatre style experience to watch video entertainment."

Top 10 Blu-ray titles year to week 47

1 Avengers Assemble Walt Disney Studios
2 Prometheus 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
3 Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows Warner Home Video
4 The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Entertainment One
5 The Hunger Games Elevation Sales
6 Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol Paramount Home Entertainment
7 The Adventures Of Tintin - The Secret Of Paramount Home Entertainment
8 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 2 Warner
9 Alien - Quadrilogy 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
10 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Elevation Sales

Story filed 28.11.12