Consumers in the United States, Western Europe and Japan will purchase upwards of 100 million Blu-ray discs through the rest of 2009, Futuresource Consulting said in a statement.

Blu-ray has seen solid sales numbers in the United States, with unit shipments increasing 320 percent throughout 2008. The U.S. market is expected to control 80 percent of total disc sales in 2009, with the U.K. serving as the No. 2 Blu-ray content buyer this year, Futuresource Consulting predicts.

"In the USA, BD has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace,” Futuresource Consulting analyst Mai Hoang said in a statement. "Last year in the US alone, BD video retail sales increased by a whopping 320% to 24 million units; and we’re going to see momentum continuing in 2009, with over 80 million disc sales forecast."

Blu-ray still is at the early adopter stage in Western Europe, but is continuing to grow as standalone Blu-ray players continue to lower in price -- along with the Sony PlayStation 3 game console's sales -- as consumers learn more about the Sony-created format. Not surprisingly, the United Kingdom remains the largest market for Blu-ray movies in Western Europe, with 3.5 million Blu-ray discs shipped last year.

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