Woolworths drops HD-DVD sales from High Street

Woolworths has said that it will no longer sell the HD-DVD movie format in stores from March.

The company has seen sales of rival format Blu-ray outsell HD-DVD by ten-to-one over the Christmas period, with the retailer stating that the PlayStation 3 has been the major factor in establishing market dominance.

"Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD," commented DVD buyer for Woolworths Steven McGunigel, reports The Retail Bulletin.

"The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-ray discs, there are over three quarters of a million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format."

"There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around," added McGunigel.

The retailer is not yet giving up on the format entirely — HD-DVD movies will still be sold via the company's website.