Blu-ray Replication in Jeopardy?

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Home Media Magazine is reporting that the Blu-ray business could have a problem on their hands. It is possible that the North American Blu-ray replication infrastructure will his capacity by the end of 2011.

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This comes from Jim Bottoms, director and co-founder of Futuresource Consulting, "There were major capacity shortages in Q4 of 2010. People are talking about new investment, but nothing has been approved yet. It needs to happen soon for it to help Q4."

What Bottoms means is that the demand for Blu-ray has grown and movie studios will be releasing more high-profile Blu-ray releases, meaning more combo packs and more boxed sets, such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy boxed set. The issue is further pressed by Playstation 3 games and the expected annual increase in standard Blu-ray releases.

"Better efficiency won't be enough," Bottoms continued. "It's going to take investment by the big three [Sony DADC, Technicolor, Cinram]. There are a few replicators here and there they can turn to for overspill, but this is mostly in their hands."

So Blu-ray popularity is up, which is great for the home theater world, but what happens if manufacturers don't keep up with the demand? Do consumers end up with fewer selections or with over-priced discs? Neither one is acceptable. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

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