March 20, 2009 - TDG research from January 2009 found that only 16% of adult broadband users were to any positive degree interested in purchasing a new Blu-ray player in the next six months. Yes, this is disappointing news for Blu-ray vendors but it is hardly surprising given the current economic environment. Most consumers are simply willing to stay with their existing DVD player and forgo the additional expense. In tough times, you often do with what you have.
Then again, sales of Blu-ray players have been hindered by more than economic pressures. Chief among the constraints limiting the short-term uptake of Blu-ray players has been the lack of awareness among consumers as to some of the key benefits a Blu-ray player offers over standard DVD. For example, consumer awareness of the extent to which Blu-ray players do (or do not) have an Internet connection has led to confusion about which players to buy (among those interested in purchasing a new Blu-ray player) and uncertainty about what benefits Blu-ray-enabled platforms can deliver (among all consumers).
TDG recently asked adult broadband users about their knowledge of Blu-ray players regarding the presence of Internet connectivity. Their responses are summarized below.
As illustrated, most consumers have no idea whether a Blu-ray player can connect to the Internet - 59% chose "uncertain" as best describing their knowledge regarding this issue. In fact, only 28% of adult broadband users selected the appropriate statement, that "some but not all Blu-ray players connect to the Internet." Approximately 13% of consumers split between the remaining answers:
- 5.5% said "all Blu-ray players connect to some specialized content on the Internet";
- 5.2% said "Blu-ray players cannot connect to the Internet"; and
- 2.5% said "Blu-ray players connect directly to the Internet and I can search and view any content I want."
It is bewildering that despite the fact that it has been several years since Blu-ray technology was introducted, and despite a major PR battle with rival technology HD-DVD in which Blu-ray proved victorious, most adult broadband users (virtually all of which own a regular DVD player) still have little idea that Blu-ray can support Internet connectivity. This has to be disappointing news to Blu-ray vendors - it's already difficult enough to sell advanced replacement platforms in the current economic context without confusion about one of the key benefits of new Blu-ray platforms. In order to overcome this hurdle, messaging efforts must look beyond the benefits of HD and speak more to value of embedded Internet connectivity. Such messaging will become significantly more important as Internet connectivity becomes a standard feature on most CE platforms.
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