As Dave pointed out earlier, when prices go through the floor on high-def DVD players, it’s easier to ignore the HD format war and pick up some hardware for a little extra HD viewing pleasure. However, I wouldn’t have guessed that a large percentage of folks get their high-definition DVD playing capabilities as merely a bonus feature in some other investment. According to the Inquirer (via CrunchGear), a full one third of HD-DVD players sold in the US are add-on drives for the Xbox 360. (And of course that doesn’t even compare to the three quarters of Blu-ray players sold as PS3 consoles)
It’s kind of like when DVRs invaded the market in low-cost, subsidized form from your local cable operator. Bundle it up at a low cost with something else consumers want, and high-def DVD players could achieve mass-market saturation yet.