The Consumer Electronics Association has slashed projections for sales of next-generation DVD players for 2006, while industry experts further advice consumers to wait with the adoption of either Blu-ray or HD DVD. The war between the two emerging standards has already caused consumer electronics companies over $300 million in revenues.

Even though both next-generation high definition digital video disc standards – Blu-ray and HD DVD – have their own competitive advantages and both offer increased image quality compared to the contemporary standard definition DVD, industry experts advise end-users not to bite on Black Friday’s price slashes and acquire a new player, as eventually only one standard survives and it is not obvious that users will be correct in their assumptions now and may eventually find themselves with a player without content.

“You don’t have to decide yet. History has taught us that only one of these formats is going to come out on top, and consumers who choose the wrong product will lose money, time, and, of course, quality home viewing entertainment. Wait to make this significant purchase until after the holidays, and after one of the two options appear to be leading the way to the next level of home entertainment,” said Dan Diotte, the founder of disc repair and maintenance company VenMill Industries.

Back in January, the Consumer Electronics Association predicted that more than 600 000 high definition DVD players, worth $484 million, would be sold this year. However, delays of shipments and manufacturing issues have twice caused the organization to lower its forecast, and it now expects U.S. sales to reach only 200 000 players, worth $181 million, by the end of 2006, The Washington Post has reported.

Mr. Diotte believes that there is no guarantee that either HD-DVD or Blu Ray will be the clear leader a year from now, meaning that next year sales of next-generation DVD players may also be lower than expected, which will cost consumer electronics companies another hundreds of millions revenues not received. For consumers, the war may result in lower amount of content available for next-gen DVDs and, if the consumers invest in one format that will eventually disappear, they will lose the investment and need to re-purchase a player, discs, accessories and so on.

One of the ways to revive sales of next-generation players is to develop a player that will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD, making a choice obvious for consumers. However, both consumer electronics companies that planned such players – LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics – said they had dumped the projects.

So far Toshiba’s HD DVD has been slightly more successful on the market with five-seven players available starting at $320 in the U.S. and over 160 titles in English and Japanese. Sony’s Blu-ray is currently supported by three players and over 60 BD titles on the market.