ABI: Universal drives will overtake Blu-ray

The adoption of high-definition optical drives by PC manufacturers and consumers is only the beginning. Nonetheless, both Sony Corp. (with its Blu-ray format) and Toshiba Corp. (HD DVD format) have announced their intentions to include HD DVD drives in all their machines.

And how rapidly will HD optical drives enter the PC market?

ABI Research predicts such drives will bring in revenues of about Rs.7,895.68 crore ($2 billion) by 2012. "Of that, about two-thirds will be accounted for by universal drives, which can play either format," says Steve Wilson, principal analyst at ABI Research. "Few universal drives are sold today, partly because of their higher price. But those prices will fall to about the same as Blu-ray players by 2009, and we forecast universal player sales to exceed Blu-ray the following year."