El Segundo, Calif. - Blu-ray.drives will not become the dominant technology for the foreseeable future, according to iSuppli.

The iSuppli study found Blu-ray penetration at 3.6 percent this year, a figure expected to hit 16.3 percent by 2013.

Michael Yang, iSuppli's storage and mobile memory senior analyst, said there is still no compelling reason for consumers to require a Blu-ray drive in their PC.

The two overriding factors are the drive's cost and that not enough content has yet been ported to the Blu-ray format, Yang said.

A similar situation took place when floppy drives were replaced by CD-ROM drives and when DVD drives appeared on the scene in the late 1990s. It was not until a critical mass of movies and games were available on the new format that people began to replace their CD-ROM drives.

"It's undeniable that Blu-ray delivers a higher-definition picture, better sound quality and larger storage space for home entertainment," he said. "However, these benefits may have little or no value when viewing the content on a smaller desktop or laptop PC screen and using poor speakers."

iSuppli Figure: Forecast of Global Blu-ray Drive Percentage Penetration in PCs, 2009-2013 (Percentage of Total PC Shipments)

Source: iSuppli