Blu-ray adoption is growing quickly in the Land of the Rising Sun. According to GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd’s recently released statistics on Japanese home entertainment, Blu-ray Disc recorders sold a record 1.34 million units in 2008. That’s an 800% rise from 2007, when only 160,000 recorders were sold in Japan.
Meanwhile, DVD recorder sales dropped off dramatically in 2008, moving 27.6% less units than in 2007. For the whole of 2008, Blu-ray Disc recorders represented 37% of the video recorder market on a volume basis, and 53% on a value basis. Pending some unforeseen disaster, both the total sales numbers and revenue will continue to rise in 2009.