Launching only in March, 228,000 Ultra HD Blu-ray discs have already been sold as of June 24. This compares extremely well to when Blu-ray was first launched, when only 57,000 discs were sold in roughly the same time period.
The fast uptake is happening despite the fact that only two Ultra HD Blu-ray player models have been launched so far, from Samsung and Panasonic (availability of the Panasonic model varies according to region, but the US version isn't coming until September and will be priced at $699).
But despite the lack of hardware choices, over 45 Ultra HD Blu-ray releases are already on store shelves. In trying to answer the age old question of who came first, the chicken or the egg, or more specifically, the movies or the players, it appears that the overall strategy is leaning towards making 4K movies available first.
Of the released titles so far, the popular picks among early 4K adopters have been a mix of new releases, like 'The Martian' and 'Deadpool', and re-released classics like 'Independence Day'. But showing that the format still has a long way to go, one of the more popular recent releases on 4K, 'Independence Day', only accounted for 4.54% of all disc sales for the title (including Blu-ray, DVD and combo editions).
The format also recently received a huge boost from an unlikely source, with Microsoft announcing their upgraded Xbox One console will include Ultra HD Blu-ray playback, and will retail for only $299, $100 less than the Samsung player, currently the cheapest on the market.
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