What whether they called a war and no one showed up? Industry heavyweights may have fought hard on either side of the next-generation DVD battle, but consumers apparently have decided to take a pass.

A report on DVD player adoption finds that Blu-ray, which won a hard-fought format war with HD DVD, made negligible gains from the demise of the rival format. Sales of Blu-ray players fell 40 percent within January and February, but as it won the format war, it picked up only two percent in sales. HD DVD fell 13 percent amidst January and February, and next fell off the charts as production slowed and stock disappeared.

“That stand-alone Blu-ray players haven’t picked up significantly from HD DVD’s loss shows that few consumers were dissuaded primarily by the ‘format war,’” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD Group.

Market a Year Away

“When we surveyed consumers late last year, an overwhelming number of

them said they weren’t investing in a new next-generation player considering their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive,” Rubin said. “It’s clear from retail sales that those consumer sentiments are still holding true.”

In a report issued last week, ABI Research said the high-definition DVD market will not “kick into gear” for 12 to 18 months, when manufacturers release full-featured players and drop prices to the $200 level.

“Most current players do not support all the functions that studios place on the discs,” said Steve Wilson, a research principal at ABI. “Lacking support for — or upgradability to — BD-Live or Bonus View (picture in picture), consumers cannot utilize all the available options. Manufacturers would rather sell more fully featured models.”

And as the U.S. economy descends into recession, few consumers will be rushing to Best Buy to pay $400 for a new DVD…

Orginal post by Top Tech News