Do you have Blu-ray yet?  Were you involved in this boost in sales?  What did you buy? I just bought Season 7  of 24.

According to the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), sales are up 91% compared to the the same period in 2008.  How much is that? 

$407 million.  Cha-Ching!

Sales of Blu-ray players is up also, 25%.  Over 2 million Blu-ray players have been sold thus far.  Prices of some really nice players are now below $250, plus they include Pandora and Netflix Streaming.   Manufactures are now giving the consumer more features for less money this year.  Also, some basic no name players are trending towards $100.  My speculation is, more consumers are comfortable buying a player now at these more realistic prices, plus there are more places and titles to rent.  Purchase prices are better too if you wait for sales.

DEG says there are nearly 11 million Blu-ray devices in homes in the U.S., including PlayStation 3 consoles.   Almost, 75 percent of those units are BD-Live compatible meaning they can access the internet content that is paired with the disc. More than 40 million Blu-ray titles have now been sold in the United States, and more than 1600 titles are available. Over 190 titles offer BD-Live content.

Spending for pre-recorded entertainment dropped 3.9 percent year-over-year to $9.73 billion in the first half of 2009, according to the DEG. Pre-recorded entertainment covers DVD, Blu-ray and digital distribution. Digital distribution was up 21 percent to $968 million, while rental spending rose 8.3 percent.  Looks like the recession has  more people are staying home to watch moves. 

Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video and the DEG, commented, "Despite an extraordinarily challenging marketplace, the home entertainment sector continues to be remarkably stable overall, particularly with the growth of higher-margin businesses like Blu-ray Disc..."