09.17.2008 — A game of Price Is Right seems to have broken out at the DisplaySearch/NPD HDTV Conference in Hollywood.

The “item” up for bid is the future average price of Blu-ray players.

DisplaySearch is now saying prices will fall through 2009, leading to global unit sales of standalone Blu-ray players tripling this year and doubling next year, according to a report by Video Business.

DisplaySearch made optimistic projections during its HDTV Conference, predicting consumers will buy 2.38 million standalone Blu-ray players in 2008 and 5.31 million in 2009.

About 700,000 Blu-ray players were sold 2007, said Paul Gagnon DisplaySearch director of North America TV research.

Gagnon added that the sales increase will directly relate to a fall in prices for Blu-ray players along with a surge in HDTV sales fueled by the February 2009 U.S. analog-to-digital TV transition.

The Blu-ray Disc Association disagrees. Blu-ray player and disc prices won’t fall until volume increases, said Andy Parsons, chairman of the association, according to TG Daily.

“There’s not enough market [volume] to lower the price,” said Parsons, who is also senior vice president of advanced product development at Pioneer.

The Blu-ray Disc Association and NPD Group agree that manufacturers need to build awareness in order to increase volume. Ross Rubin, NPD director of industry analysis, said many consumers don’t see a need to upgrade from their standard DVD players.

A recent Harris Interactive poll indicates that consumers are fairly indifferent when it comes to upgrading to Blu-ray.