Numbers released this week by the British Video Association show that over 3.1m Blu-ray discs have sold so far in 2009, this represents a whopping 231% increase on the same period last year. Hannah Conduct, Marketing Manager at the British Video Association says:

“The continuing success of Blu-ray is testament to the growth of consumer confidence in the high definition format. There are now almost 1500 Blu-ray releases in the market covering a breadth of titles. Seeing is believing with Blu-ray and the figures show that once consumers have experienced the format, they continue to spend their money on the product.”

The increase in Blu-ray sales is particularly impressive when set against the backdrop of the poor UK economy, especially when you take into account there are well over 900 fewer retail outlets due to the closure of Woolworths, Zavvi and probably countless independent entertainment stores.

During the same period sales of DVDs fared less well with sales falling by 10% as more and more people see the benefit of the hi-def format. Personally I would expect the pattern of falling DVD sales and increasing Blu-ray saless to continue, obviously as more PS3’s are sold and prices of standalone Blu-ray players are also continuing to fall all the time, further increasing the install base.

So far it appears Sony’s trojan horse plan is working.

Source: BVA.