While many observers claim that after the majority of Hollywood studios decided to release their movies on Blu-ray disc (BD) the future of rival format HD DVD is doomed. However, this may not be exactly correct, according to those, who back HD DVD. The format appears to be pretty successful in certain European counties and that success cannot be ignored.

“Despite the early stage of HD DVD adoption, we have also seen significant success for the format across Europe. By the end of 2007, HD DVD’s accumulated share of the high definition standalone player market exceeded 60% of the overall market. In the fourth quarter of 2007 alone, HD DVD doubled its European installed base of players,” said Olivier VanWynendaele, a spokesperson for HD DVD promotional group in Europe in his column published by DVD Intelligence.

Since HD DVD promo group has never considered Sony PlayStation 3 as a Blu-ray disc player, hence, there is no surprise that HD DVD has a lead when it comes to install base of standalone players. This may make a lot of sense, as people who buy game consoles, get them to play video games and not to watch movies. According to HD DVD promo group in Europe, if Sony’s PS3 is counted as a BD player along with standalone devices, the movie attach rate to all BD-capable devices will be less than one. By contrast, tie rate of HD DVD movies to HD DVD players is 3.5 titles to one device in Europe.

But while 3.5 movies per player attach rate can hardly impress anyone, what may be more important in Europe is that locally made content is truly popular. Due to the fact that HD DVD media is more affordable compared to BD and the replication costs are lower, the format developed by Toshiba, NEC and Microsoft seems to have advantage over Sony- and Philips-developed Blu-ray.

“In countries like France, over half of all the content produced is for the local markets. Local studios and content providers are looking for the format that best suits the local environment. HD DVD has over 20 authoring labs in Europe, which have produced over 150 local titles so far,” Mr. VanWynendaele said, adding that there are 10 Blu-ray authoring labs in Europe which produced less than 80 local titles.

But local content alone will hardly make a format dominant across the globe. In many counties in Europe there are no HD DVD players sold at all, but there are Sony PlayStation 3 video game consoles for sale along with several Blu-ray movies priced at about €28 - €30 ($). Obviously, a handful of BD movies will not attract masses, but early adopters may bite Blu-ray and continue to support and promote it going forward. At the end of the day, not all people in Europe watch only locally made movies, hence, they will require Hollywood titles, which will be on the Blu-ray in their vast majority starting from mid-2008 in the USA. What should be noted is that in Europe many Blu-ray-exclusive movies from the U.S. are released on HD DVD. That said, the war still goes on.

“HD DVD is still standing, and the format war is not over yet. HD DVD continues to see strong support in the European market, increasing sales of HD DVD players and continued interest in the format from the industry and consumers,” Mr. VanWynendaele concluded.