Blu-ray drives will not knock CD/DVD off its perch

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Blu-ray drives are far from becoming the norm in the PC market, according to new research released today.

Although adoption in the consumer market is growing, use of the drives in PCs is unlikely to increase to more than 16 per cent of the market by 2013, according to a report from analyst firm iSuppli.

This is an increase of 3.6 per cent from its market share this year, however this still means CD/DVD drives take up over 80 per cent and don’t seem to be budging.

One major hurdle for Blu-ray drives is cost, said Michael Yang, senior analyst for storage and mobile memory at iSuppli.

“The cost issue is amplified by the fact that the library of content is so small that there really isn’t a reason for users to switch at the moment,” he said in a statement.

“While this is changing and studios are rolling out more Blu-ray content every week, there remains a long way to go,” he added.

Unlike its predecessors - like the floppy or CD ROMs, which have given up the ghost to let in the new drive design - CD/DVD is nowhere near finished yet, and Blu-ray just doesn’t offer that much more to the average PC user.

“It’s undeniable that Blu-ray delivers a higher-definition picture, better sound quality and larger storage space for home entertainment," Yang said. "However, these benefits may have little or no value when viewing the content on a smaller desktop or laptop PC screen and using poor speakers.”

Still, the analyst is positive that Blu-ray drives will carve out a place in the market. “They eventually will find success, but during the next five years, that success will be limited in the PC segment,” he said.

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