Blu-ray advancement hits economic reality

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The economic morass in the United States may cause Blu-ray technology to just about miss the boat, a technology analyst said.

Sales of newer, higher priced technology tend to sag during a recession. In the meantime, technological advances don't necessarily slow down. In effect, Blu-ray video technology could be superseded by the time the economy recovers and consumers are ready to spend again, industry analyst Rodger Kay of Endpoint Technology Associates told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"If you can get movies over the wire on demand and have an entire library at your disposal on the screen a la Netflix, that's the way you're going to go," Kay said.

Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blue-Ray Disc Association told the Chrolicle that slow sales aren't atypical of new technology. "Everyone thinks of DVD as an overnight success but it actually took several years for that overnight success to happen," Parsons said.

Blu-ray products gained recognition when Sony used the format for its Playstation 3, the Chronicle reported.

Recognition of Blu-ray technology is up but sales are still slow.

"Because of the way they're pricing it, it's still a niche product," Russ Crupnick of NPD Group said to the newspaper.