Blu-ray Disc software sales in the US continued to rise in the first quarter of 2010, up 74% compared to the same period last year. Some 34 million BD discs shipped to retail, according to figures compiled by Swicker & Associates on behalf of the DEG. Rental was up 36%.

Consumer spending for the first quarter in the home entertainment window for pre-recorded entertainment, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution, was $4.8 billion, down 8% compared to the same period last year. Total rental was down 14% in the first quarter, largely as a result of brick and mortar store closures, according to Rentrak Corporation’s Home Video Essentials.

The DEG also announced that Blu-ray Disc hardware sales experienced remarkable growth, with set-tops up 125% versus first quarter 2009. Household penetration of all Blu-ray-compatible devices, including set-top players, PC drives and PlayStation 3 consoles, has now reached 18 million US homes.

According to figures compiled by the DEG based on data from CEA, retailers and manufacturers, more than 94 million DVD players sold to US consumers in the first quarter of 2010. Since launch in Spring 1997, some 280 million DVD players, including set-top and portable DVD players, Home-Theater-in-a-Box systems, TV/DVD and DVD/VCR combination players, have sold to consumers, bringing the number of DVD households to approximately 91 million (adjusting for households with more than one player). The DEG estimates that some 67 percent of DVD owners have more than one player.

Some 75 million HDTVs have sold to consumers. With some 4.7 million HDTVs selling in the first quarter, US household penetration is at approximately 50 million. Nearly 34 percent of all HDTV owners have more than one set.

Digital distribution, which includes electronic sell-through (EST) and video-on-demand (VOD), grew a combined 27% to $617 million in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

Story filed 26.04.10