For those of you interested in the Blu-ray high def front, there’s some interesting research data from Harris Interactive. While Sony and others may have prevailed in the Blu-ray vs HD DVD war, consumers are still sitting on the sidelines when it comes to the new high definition format. In a Harris Poll of 2529 U.S. adults conducted between April 7th and April 15th of this year, Harris found the following (quoted from the report):

• Ownership of standard DVD players is practically ubiquitous (87%);
• Few report owning Blu-ray disc players (4%), Sony PlayStation 3 (5%), HD DVD players (6%) and the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 (1% have external drive while 9% have an Xbox 360);
• Only nine percent of non-Blu-ray player owners report being likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player within the next year, even when made fully aware that Blu-ray is considered to be the definitive technology for high definition DVD players going forward;
• Two-thirds of consumers are familiar with the recently resolved high-definition format war (67%) and seven in ten of them have heard that Blu-ray is the unofficial winner (69%);
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of those aware of the format war report that they had been waiting for the rivalry to play itself out before purchasing a high definition player, but by April they had yet to do so;
• Although one-third of consumers report owning a high definition television set (HDTV; 35%), with incidence higher among males (41%) versus females (28%) and rising decidedly with household income (15% for those with less than $35K vs. 53% among those with $75K+), the percentage of HDTV owners likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player is only 14 percent;
• Current ownership of Blu-ray disc players among HDTV owners stands at 10 percent.

There’s also some interesting data points about Blu-ray’s Internet connectivity support. Interest in this feature is apparently lacking among the surveyed consumers. Here’s a quote from the report:

• U.S. adults are more likely to purchase a Sony PlayStation 3 that plays Blu-ray discs and has Internet access for $399 (11%) or an original Blu-ray disc player without connectivity for the same price (10%) versus a new Blu-ray disc player with Internet for $500-$650 (4%);
• Not surprisingly, the under 40 crowd is most likely to opt for the PlayStation 3 as their Blu-ray capable device of choice – fully 23 percent of those in the 30-39 age group are likely to purchase this device in the next year (compared to 14% likely to buy an original Blu-ray disc player or the new Blu-ray disc player with Internet connectivity 5%)).

Finally.. what about all of those HD DVD players?

• Like the BetaMax loyalists of yore, almost half (45%) of those who currently own an HD DVD player say that they will just continue to use it and continue purchasing HD DVD’s as long as they are available;
• Another 14 percent of those who currently own an HD DVD player will continue to use it with the HD DVD’s they have already purchased, but do not plan on buying any new ones;
• An equal proportion of HD DVD player owners (15%) will continue to use it but also plan to invest in a Blu-ray disc player in the future.

As for myself – I was in the third bullet category until I decided to sell my Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on. Yup.. I’m Blu-ray only now.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Blu-ray, Harris Interactive, Survey