HD-DVD, Blu-ray sow high-definition 'confusion'

Interesting article with some quotes from folks in the industry...

Link via EETimes

Jim Bottoms, co-founder of Understanding & Solutions, provided the bottom line on the critical issue of befuddling the consumer. "The longer the confusion exists for mass market consumers, they will want one format," he said. "If the market does not have a one-format solution within 18 months, the consumer will start to turn away."

When that happens, Bottoms warned, "There's a real danger that all this investment will be wasted."

Not all the panelists agreed with that estimate. Laurent Villaume, president of QOL, France, predicted that the two-format struggle will last into 2011, when--according to his company's research--40 percent of households in the U.S. will have some installed HD capacity, and the Blu-ray/HD-DVD market split will probably be about 60/40. "It's impossible to think," Villaume said, "that one format will be dead within this timeframe."