You know, I just wouldn't use a Custom Installlers expo to be the determining factor of the 'state' of Blu-ray Disc. BD in the CEDIA market is a hot item and I haven't had a single installation, even from people on a really tight budget (sub $5K) which haven't asked about buying Blu-ray.
The consumer products are the sub $300 players (this year) which can be found from Samsung, Insignia, and a few others. Mostly Korean made Funai stuff, but still getting 'fair' reviews. These are the players which will drop under $200 during sales this holiday season I expect, and really may set the pace for BD into 2009.
We 'Audioholics' sit around and talk 1.1 vs. 2.0 profiles, but J6P may not give a damn, or even know what the heck we are talking about. BD = BD and getting a TRUE HD player for their HD display is a requirement.
So... what does a review of the current CEDIA level products really say about the current state of Blu-ray in the market?
I think it says a lot that this year there were about twice as many, if not more, new players in the BD game than last year, which means that CEs are excited about the technology and moving it forward. Perhaps not at the price which makes it mainstream... yet. But, BD is on track to quadruple it's market share in one year... Anyone who finds 300% growth to be 'poor' is not likely going to be a CEO of a major CE company anytime soon.
If BD were to maintain this level of growth (impossible) then by early 2010, over half the optical disc based market would belong to Blu-ray. If they maintain a growth of 6% annually (a bit low I think) then by the end of 2012 they would have over 30% of the optical disc based market, which simply would not be considered a 'failure' in a multi-billion dollar market.
If I am to gather anything from that article it is that Blu-ray still has a long way to go, but appears to be pretty darn healthy right now.