Global unit sales of standalone Blu-ray players will triple this year and will double next year as prices fall, more titles are released and a larger percentage of the population own high-definition TVs, researchers for NPD Group unit DisplaySearch said at its HDTV 2008 conference at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel here.

Worldwide consumers will buy 2.38 million Blu-ray set-top players this year and 5.31 million next year, up from about 700,000 in 2007, said Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch director of North America TV research, at the conference. With such a surge in standalone players, Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles, which include Blu-ray players, will no longer be the biggest selling Blu-ray hardware source by 2010, Gagnon said.

The increase is a reflection of falling prices for Blu-ray players as well as the rapid adoption of HDTVs, especially in the U.S., which will switch to all-digital broadcasts next February. HDTVs will account for more than half of all TVs shipped this year and will make up 80% of TVs sold in 2011, Gagnon said.

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