Blu-ray Lures Customers with Free Movies

Learning from its HD DVD rival, the Blu-ray Disc Association has launched a new promotion in which it will offer five free movies to purchasers of Blu-ray players -- including Sony's PS3 -- between July 1st and September 30th. Customers can choose 5 titles out of a list of 21.

Toshiba took a similar tack to increase sales of HD DVD players, offering a $100 discount and five free movies. The promotion seemed to work, with the HD DVD Promotions Group announcing earlier this month that sales doubled in May. In turn HD DVD regained the lead in the market with 60 percent of all high-definition players. Blu-ray's biggest problem remains its low attach rate; customers simply aren't buying movies for the PS3. The 5 free movie promotion could help, assuming there is demand for title like Pearl Harbor and Transporter 2.