Digital Home Thoughts: Why is Blockbuster Going Exclusively With Blu-Ray?

"Film rental firm Blockbuster is to rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format at 1,450 US stores. The move is viewed as a blow for the rival Toshiba-backed HD DVD format - which has been battling against the Blu-ray format, supported by Sony. Blockbuster said that consumers have chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD in the 250 stores where both were available. The limited choice of titles in the HD DVD format was also a factor in focusing on Blu-ray, Blockbuster said. "The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbusters, told the Associated Press news agency. Mr Smith added that most studios were offering films on Blu-ray, with the exception of Universal which has been supplying films on HD DVD alone."

"Customers are sending us a message?" Please! That is such a useless statement IMHO. I don't see how it hurts Blockbuster to serve both formats. Honestly, I haven't decided on one format vs. the other, but from a renter/retailer point of view, I don't see why they would want to limit themselves. It is not like they will snub all the Blu-Ray customers by also carrying the HD-DVD disks. As a side-note, 250 Blockbuster stores will actually carry the HD-DVD format (maybe the owners of those stores were able to not be as short-sighted as the Blockbuster exec who seems to be making his decisions based on the recent success of Blu-Ray).