Despite its success in the past format war, it seems as if Sony still isn't making any headway in terms of sales for its standalone Blu-ray players. The NPD Group recently noted a 40 percent drop in sales from January to February in North America, and only saw a 2 percent increase during the following month.

Ironically, Ross Rubin, NPD's director of industry analysis, explained that consumers were actually dissuaded from picking up standalone Blu-ray players due to the fallout of the recent "format war". During a survey conducted by the NPD Group, consumers didn't bother investing in a new next-gen player because their old DVD player just as worked well as more expensive Blu-ray players.

Also, consumers always have the option of purchasing upconverted DVD players to match up to Blu-ray's higher quality for a lower cost. According to the Retail Tracking Service of NPD, unit sales for upconverted players were up by 5 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Another possible factor affecting Blu-ray players' low sales may be the anticipated models with Internet connectivity that everyone is expecting. These particular models still haven't hit the market and the fact that current models can't be upgraded is another thing which may turn off consumers.

Rubin ended his analysis with this statement:

Consumers continue to see a gap between Blu-ray's premium video quality and features and its premium price. As content availability improves, this holiday season will be the best opportunity to date for retailers and manufacturers to promote Blu-ray adoption.