HD-DVD is Taking Blu-ray to the Curb in Europe Stephen Fung March 8, 2007 Thanks to Toshiba’s price leadership with their US$499 HD-E1 HD DVD player, HD-DVD now has an 85% lead in the European markets. But could it be temporary? Sony and Samsung Electronics, proponents of the competing Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, together accounted for the remaining 15% of the European market, the sources said, citing statistics by GfK Marketing Services. Prior to the launch of the HD-E1, Toshiba’s European market share for blue-laser products in 2006 was only 58%, the sources pointed out. Though HD DVD currently has a lead in Europe, the upcoming launch there of Sony’s Blu-ray equipped PS3 game console is expected to heat up competition between the two formats. Source: Digitimes Share This With The World!
