Gartner Predicts Blu-ray Will Beat HD DVD

by Billy Brown

It used to be that you'd have to go out on a limb to predict the winner of the high definition DVD race, but now that Warner Brothers has jumped ship from HD DVD to go exclusively with Blu-ray, it doesn't seem to take a crystal ball anymore.

Research firm Gartner is latest to chime in with their official analysis and they not only predict that "Blu" will prevail, but that the war will be over by the end of the year.

"Warner's shift from producing in both formats to Blu-ray alone has left HD DVD with just Paramount and Universal as its major Hollywood supporters, both of which account for only 30% of all HD movies," wrote analyst Hiroyuki Shimizu in Gartner's latest newsletter.

"Gartner believes that Toshiba's price-cutting may prolong HD DVD's life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format. Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over."

The cheapest BR player on the market at the moment is the $399 Sony PlayStation 3.