Posted by Ian on April 18th, 2008 at 10:44 AM CST

While video downloads have been threatening to take a chunk out of DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales, its had little effect on consumer spending so far this year. Home Media Magazine is reporting that the sales of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs are up 2.3% from last year. DVD unit sales did see a drop of 1.2%. However, this was offset by a 351% increase in Blu-ray sales.

Consumer spending on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs in the first three months of this year was up about 1% from the first three months of 2007, coming in at $5.51 billion, up from $5.46 billion in the first quarter of last year, according to Home Media Magazine market research estimates based on studio and retail data.

Sales were up 2.3% to $3.47 billion, from $3.39 billion, while rental spending slipped 1.6% to $2.04 billion, from $2.07 billion...

...And according to Nielsen VideoScan sales data, the nascent Blu-ray Disc saved the day for the sellthrough business, with DVD unit sales in the first quarter down 1.2% from the first quarter of 2007 but Blu-ray Disc sales up a whopping 351%.

If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.