MUMBAI: Warner Home Video (WHV) has had the fastest and highest-selling high definition title in the market with the epic action-adventure, 300. Since 31 July, 2007, 300 has sold more than 250,000 copies to consumers on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

300 provides another high definition milestone for Warner Home Video which was the first studio to break the 100K sold mark with The Departed. Overall WHV has six of the top 10 selling high definition titles with 300, The Departed, Superman Returns, Planet Earth – The Complete Collection, Batman Begins, and Happy Feet. Warner also has the highest grossing high definition title with the dual-format release of Planet Earth.

“300 is an amazing film, and the high definition sales we are seeing underscores the positive business benefits of supporting both HD DVD and Blu-ray. This phenomenal response to 300 is the latest proof that our approach makes the most sense in today’s market and has enabled Warner Home Video to continue to lead the market in high definition sales,” said Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders.

As a result of its dual format strategy, WHV has more than 30 per cent market share of DVD sales in the high definition market, selling more high definition product and releasing more titles than any other studio. Because of two competing high definition formats in the market, it is widely recognized that hardware prices for both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD have fallen faster than would normally be expected at this stage in the product cycle.

However, research organizations, such as ABI Research, predict that further price reductions of hardware are needed to fuel mass adoption of high definition formats.

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