Earlier today Apple announced new designs for their entire family of notebook computers. For some industry watchers, the announcements were interesting not because of the new technologies the laptop computers offered, but because of what they lacked; Blu-ray players. Apple has been a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, formed to help develop and promote the High Definition format, since 2005. At a time when the HD-VD Vs. Blu-Ray battle was raging strong and many companies were hesitant to choose a side, Apple made their decision quickly and easily. And yet, three years later, they have still to release a single product with a Blu-ray drive.

Blu-ray has been having a rough time as of late. Despite strong sales at the beginning of the year following the demise of HD-DVD, sales have slowed towards the end of summer and continue to do so throughout the fall.

Back in April, when things were looking sunny and bright, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi predicted that Blu-ray sales would account for 50% of the home video market by the end of this year, but the latest statistics from Neilsen VideoScan show the current market share to be hovering at 8% despite a recent drop in the price of Blu-ray players and a rise in the sales of PlayStation 3 consoles.

A lack of confidence in the future of Blu-ray has been hovering around it as analysts point to the current financial crisis, the strength and improving quality of upconverting DVD players, and the rise of alternate HD content services including Apple’s own iTunes movie store and Sony’s own online movie store for the PlayStation 3. The concern expressed by many executives in the consumer electronics market is that these obstacles will continue a delay already caused by the battle with HD-DVD in establishing Blu-ray in the mainstream market. If the delay Is stretched out too long, the format may simply miss its chance to take the place of DVD.

In the days leading up to today's Apple press conference, rumours were abound that the company would launch a new line of notebook computers and that they would offer Blu-ray drives. At today’s press conference, reporters in the audience asked about the lack of Blu-ray and Apple CEO and Co-Founder Steve Jobs replied “Y'know, Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. I don’t mean from the consumer point of view. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the technology is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace before we burden our customers with the cost of licensing and the cost of the drives.” The company’s Senior Vice President Phil Schiller further clarified by stating “We have the best HD movie and TV options in iTunes.”

So why did Apple sign on with the Blu-Ray Disc Association in 2005? At the time, Steve Jobs explained that it gave them access to the H.264 video codec used to scale High Definition video, the digital technology that is used by Apple to provide High Definition movies and TV shows throughout all of their products, including their iTunes movie store.

For Blu-ray and Sony, their hopes are better placed on the upcoming December release of The Dark Knight which, because of six sequences filmed using IMAX cameras, is expected to set a new High Definition standard for Blu-Ray while also providing one of the first uses of BD Live 2.0, an upgrade the provides access to online content and social features.