TDG finds US high-def TV buyers favour HD DVD

New research from market intelligence firm, The Diffusion Group (TDG), finds that more people in the US, who are thinking of buying an HD TV in the next six months, are considering buying an HD DVD player than those who are thinking of buying a Blu-ray Disc machine.

TDG surveyed 1,500 US, adult internet users in October 2007 and 2,000 adult broadband users in November 2007.

Nearly 30% of respondents to the survey, who don’t already own an HD TV are planning to acquire one in the next six months.

An unspecified number of this group said they were also planning to buy a hi-def media player in the next six months, with 43% of them favouring an HD DVD machine, and just 27% considering a Blu-ray player. The remainder were undecided.

Respondents to the survey who said they planned to buy an HDTV soon, tended to be younger, have a lower annual income, and be more ethnically diverse than current HDTV owners.

The fact that HD DVD players tend to be significantly less expensive than Blu-ray players, could explain their appeal to lower-income consumers.