Sony's Playstation 3 games consoles come equipped with a Blu-ray drive while Toshiba plans to put HD DVD drives in all its laptop computers next year.
Sony is relying on exclusive films to spur its growth, after selling fewer than 100,000 units in 2006.
Out of the top 20 blockbusters "there were 14 or 15 that were exclusive to Blu-ray", Sony's Randy Waynick told a meeting in San Francisco, according to Bloomberg.
Blu-Ray is also promoted by Matsushita (Panasonic) in the US.
The 44% cut in predicted sales of HD DVD devices in North America is attributed to a Toshiba executive, quoted by Reuters, who also said the global target would be cut.
"Obviously we are going to have to lower our previous global estimate," Toshiba's Yoshihide Fujii said.
