DVD player and recorder units will have a combined market of 176.6 million units sold worldwide in 2010, up from 140.8 million units in 2005, reports In-Stat.

The forecast for 2006 predicts that Europe will be the strongest region for DVD players and recorders with a combined total of 38.4 million units sold, the market research firm says.

"The DVD player market benefits from versatility in form factors. DVD players can be seen in portable renditions, or integrated with VCRs, or in the back panel seats of SUVs. While DVD recorders have come down in price, there is still delineation in the pricing of DVD players and DVD recorders- each represents a different value proposition," says Chris Kissel, In-Stat analyst. "The future of this market though is all about high definition DVD players based on 'blue laser' technology; however, the future may be farther off than we would like. These players will enter the market at premium prices, and as there has been no compromise between the HD-DVD camp and the companies that sponsor Blu ray technology, a format battle seems inevitable. There will be some casualties, companies and consumers alike."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- With the servo chipset, optical pick-up, H.264 decoder and royalties making up the majority of the cost, the initial estimates for the bill of materials for blue laser disc players is over $400. Most of the costs are forecasted to decline considerably over the forecast period, except for royalties. The promise of the guaranteed premium royalty bounty is obviously at the heart the high definition DVD format wars.

- According to an In-Stat US consumer survey, consumers who had hard drive discs (HDD) on their DVD recorders were much more likely to record content than consumers with only a recorder drive.

- DVD recorders are evolving into devices that become a part of a media center/server system. Added connectivity means that consumers can aggregate digital pictures, download MP3 files or transfer old VHS tapes onto DVD discs.

The research, "Who's Blu? Next Generation DVD Players and Recorders" (#IN0603107ME), covers the worldwide market for DVD playback and recording devices that connect to TV sets, not PCs. It includes unit, revenue, and Average Selling Price (ASP) forecasts for DVD players and DVD recorders by region. It also includes forecasts of units with special features including Blu-Ray, HD, DVR capability, and forecasts of bills of materials for different types of units. The results of a US consumer survey regarding these products are reported and analyzed. The research also contains analysis of industry trends and profiles of silicon providers.

For more information on this research, visit: http://www.instat.com/catalog/Ccatalogue.asp?id=162.