It may be less than a year old, and many people still don't even have a TV capable of getting the best out of the format, but over a million Ultra HD Blu-ray movie discs have already been sold in the U.S.
While not all studios have embraced the 4K disc format, notably Disney, and while Sony's updated PS4 Pro failed to include the ability to play these discs, over 80,000 standalone disc players have already been sold. Microsoft's Xbox One S console, which retails for $299, also includes full Ultra HD Blu-ray playback.
This makes Ultra HD Blu-ray sales better than standard Blu-ray's at the same time in its life cycle, although it's worth noting that Blu-ray, at that time, was up against competing disc format HD DVD.
Pricing wise, Ultra HD Blu-ray's initial price may be even lower than Blu-ray's at launch, but with $25 million in revenue coming from the 1 million discs sold, it's easy to work out the average price of discs (for the maths challenged, that's $25 per disc package).
For viewing hardware, shipment of Ultra HD TVs is expected to be up 80% this year, with penetration expected to reach 16% of all US households. The lower than expected entry price point for Ultra HD TVs may be responsible for the fast uptake.
According to industry sources who spoke to The Digital Bits, Disney is expected to start releasing titles on Ultra HD Blu-ray market next year. This could mean extremely popular titles, such as The Avengers series and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, all finding a new home on UHD Blu-ray.
[via The Digital Bits]
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