A fairly clear sign that the PS3 helped put Blu-ray in the lead becomes quite clear after this DigiTimes report about HD DVD vs. Blu-ray in Europe. At present, Toshiba's HD DVD player including the HD-E1 accounts for 85% of the HD player market share in Europe, with Sony and Samsung Electronics' Blu-ray players accounting the remaining 15%. While the PS3 has been out since November 2006 in the US, the PS3 will not launch in Europe until March 23rd, so the sales here are currently based on players.
Despite the high Blu-ray player pricing in Europe, what is interesting is that HD DVD only accounted for 58% of the HD player market in 2006. However, even though HD DVD is beginning to look lke a clear winner in the European market, Blu-ray is likely to see a serious take-off once the PS3 launches in the coming weeks along with Sony's upcoming lower priced Blu-ray disc player.
