Blu-ray player sales took a sharp jump during the week of January 12 to account for nearly 90 percent of the HD disc player sales. While the increase in sales compared to HD DVD players may be linked to the Warner Bros. announcement that it will support Blu-ray exclusively, analysts aren’t quite ready to say that the movie studio was the catalyst, according to Twice.

Several media outlets began leaking sales numbers last week, and NPD Group has now confirmed the data.

According to the NPD data, HD DVD player purchases dropped dramatically compared to Blu-ray player purchases for the week ending January 12. Blu-ray players accounted for some 90 percent of unit and dollar share, while HD DVD players accounted for only 7 percent of the unit share, and 4 percent of the dollar share. Blu-ray/HD DVD combo players accounted for the rest of the sales.

While Warner’s announcement may have played some role in the Blu-ray upswing, market promotions that included free players with the purchase Sony and Sharp TVs may have been a more significant factor.

"We’ve been doing weekly data for a long time, and we often times will see big shifts in sales for one week that doesn’t necessarily determine a trend," said NPD Group industry analysis vice president Stephen Baker. "It seems to me unlikely that consumers would have made that kind of a choice that quickly based on new reports of Warner Bros. shifting from Blu-ray and HD DVD to Blu-ray exclusively."