Televisions Home Theater Blu-ray ‘We’ve seen an increase in Blu-ray orders of 10,000%’: I spoke to a Blu-ray and vinyl manufacturer about their Blu-ray sales and it’s given me even more hope for physical media’s survival Opinion By James Davidson published 19 June 2026 A silver lining for Blu-ray When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . (Image credit: Future) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Physical home media has gone through a turbulent time the last few years. With the rise of streaming services, demand for physical media over the past few years has steadily declined, with people choosing the convenience of streaming over physical discs. There’s still a dedicated fanbase of physical media collectors, though, and more recently streaming price rises and splintering means people have more interest just owning the stuff they want to watch. I’ve been writing about my hope for the resurgence of 4K Blu-ray, and physical media in general, since 2023. Now in 2026, I’m actually more hopeful than ever. It couldn’t come at a better time either, with the 20th anniversary of Blu-ray’s debut on June 20th, 2026. I recently spoke to Kath Summersgill, Joint Group Head of Sales at Key Production Group , a manufacturer specializing primarily in music manufacturing with vinyl, cassette and CD. However, the group also works with Blu-ray, both video and audio varieties, and DVD. We discussed the state of Blu-ray production, and physical media in general, and she had some encouraging things to say. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Promising numbers (Image credit: Future) “We’ve seen an increase in Blu-ray sales of over 10,000%, particularly in Blu-ray Audio” Kath tells me. “That’s over the span of the past eight to 10 years.” For a format that’s been on the decline, that’s an incredibly encouraging number. Kath then mentions the ERA (Entertainment Retailer’s Association) report from December 2025 , which reveals sales revenue for Music, Video and Gaming sales. “Although there was an overall decrease in the physical video format, Blu-ray actually increased by 3%”. While that may not sound like a lot, it’s a positive after some particularly bad numbers. You may like Sony and LG exit Blu-ray market as Verbatim and I-O Data pledge continued support The best 4K Blu-ray players: Ultra HD marvels chosen by our experts Here are the 4 4K Blu-rays I’m most excited for in April 2026 If you read more into the 2025 ERA report, 4K Blu-ray sales increased 19.5%, which is an extremely encouraging number. The strongest selling disc of the year was Wicked , a disc I regularly use for testing AV equipment and one of the main highlights of our Blu-ray Bounty feature (more on that later). So, why have 4K Blu-ray sales turned around? For that answer, we’ll have to look to streaming services. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You can’t rely on streaming One major issue with streaming is you don’t own the movie (Image credit: Shutterstock) One of the most frustrating things people have with streaming services is the availability of movies. At one time or another, most people will have experienced a movie leaving a streaming service, only for it to either go to a rival service (that typically you won’t subscribe to) or for it just to disappear. I’ve even seen horror stories of people buying movies on a streaming service that then also disappear. A Reddit thread in the r/AmazonPrime subreddit is a great example of
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