Survey Says: Blu-ray Interest Is Lukewarm

The popular theory was that once Blu-ray vanquished HD DVD, sales of the the victorious players would increase substantially.

But according to a new poll by Harris, this isn't exactly the case.

At the present, only 10% of HDTV owners additionally have a Blu-ray disc player. But when 2,500 U.S. adults were surveyed, only 14% of them said that they intended to go Blu within the next year.

Even worse, only 9% of those surveyed who don't own an HDTV and don't already own a player said that they intend to get one in the next year.

Price seems to be important factor keeping the masses away at the moment. In addition, there's always the direct download option for high definition video.

"While this is likely to catch on more with the technophiles than with the mass market due to the complexity of downloading, it does provide another alternative," explained Joan Barten Kline, VP of Harris media and entertainment practice.