Analysts from IDC said that they expect DVD burners to remain the dominant volume product of the optical/removable storage market until 2011, mainly because of their low prices and “almost universal compatibility”.

"Similar to DVD and DVD burners, blue laser DVD will need a three- to five-year ramp to reach mass-market volumes," said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director for removable storage at IDC. At this time, IDC sees Blu-ray slightly in the lead when it comes to next-generation formats and noted that HD DVD will have to show “a clear price advantage over BD products, be more consumer friendly in terms of moving/accessing content, and provide easy licensing to second tier manufacturers.”

Schlichting added that “HD DVD needs to aggressively push volumes to neutralize BD’s advantage in support from consumer electronics (CE) and content companies."

However, IDC also said that the Blu-ray format must to maintain support from its lineup of consumer electronics (CE) and content companies and ensure that the PS3 game console generates additional momentum.