Digital doesn't break disc- DVD, BD hold up despite onslaught of negative press

[Grubert]

Home Media Magazine

Analysts may think packaged media is going down the tubes because of digital downloading, but sales and rental data show the home video industry is holding up remarkably well despite the down economy, the high price of gas, piracy and any consumer shift toward the Internet.

Consumer spending on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, purchases and rental combined, was $10.77 billion in Jan-Jun 08, compared to $10.6 billion in Jan-Jun 07 (up 1.6%).

Spending on disc purchases rose 1.1%, from $6.8bn to $6.87bn.

Rental spending rose 2.6%, from $3.8bn to $3.9bn.

Unit sales were up 1.1%, with consumers buying 412.3 million discs, up from 407.9 million discs in the first half of 2007.

Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, said, "The fact is, despite what many on Wall Street seem to think, there is very little digital downloading going on. We're talking about $118 million in 2007 spending, and about $254 million this year - so against a $24 billion packaged-media market it'sreally not making much of a dent at this point."

In the first six months of 2008, consumers spent an estimated $194 million on Blu-ray Disc purchases - a gain of nearly 350% from the $43 million that came from high-definition disc sales (BD and HD DVD combined) the first six months of 2007.

Unit sales of Blu-ray Discs in the first half of 2008 were up 340% from the first six months of 2007, according to Nielsen Videoscan data. Studio stimates peg the number of Blu-ray Discs sold in the first six months of the year at 7.37 million units.

Top BD sellers:

1. I Am Legend 305,000
2. National Treasure: Book of Secrets 145,000
3. No Country for Old Men 137,000
4. 300 133,100
5. 3:10 to Yuma 115,000

[RUR]

Nice to hear. Looks like a couple of FUD points disappearing up the spout.

[Peakman]

I believe the number of blockbusters movies influence more the sale than anything else.
I am guessing streaming would not take off before people can have a black box in their living room, where they can order and start movies immediately from their remote.

The sale of Blu-Ray is kind of disappointing for the people that believed fast transition to BD from DVD. Only 1.78% after HD DVD is dead is not much, but what could be expected to perform for a format giving nothing more than higher PQ/AQ.

Lets hope that the prices on players and movies goes down to DVD-level as soon as possible so the general population maybe can be interested.

[Dalese]

Originally Posted by Peakman

I believe the number of blockbusters movies influence more the sale than anything else.

Not just the number of blockbusters, but the number of titles overall as well. With all of the studios releasing in Blu-ray now there are more purchasing options for the consumer, catalog and day-and-date titles.

And don't forget the upcoming holiday season. This will be the first holiday shoping season without having two high-def formats to confuse the consumers. Sales are increasing.

It is only now that Blu-ray is in the true starting point to begin taking on DVD. The format war unfortunutly delayed getting to this point by two years.

[Peakman]

Originally Posted by Dalese

Not just the number of blockbusters, but the number of titles overall as well. With all of the studios releasing in Blu-ray now there are more purchasing options for the consumer, catalog and day-and-date titles.

And don't forget the upcoming holiday season. This will be the first holiday shoping season without having two high-def formats to confuse the consumers. Sales are increasing.

I'm not sure but don't you think that PS3 was a bigger holliday mover last year than it will be this year (consider that it was new). I am expecting the price on PS3 to hold. (in fact it is pricier now than in november last year(In norway), but that could change in Sony decides to drop the price).

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by Peakman

I'm not sure but don't you think that PS3 was a bigger holliday mover last year than it will be this year (consider that it was new). I am expecting the price on PS3 to hold. (in fact it is pricier now than in november last year(In norway), but that could change in Sony decides to drop the price).

I might agree with the first half of your statement, but now that Sony is no longer making the 40GB PS3 after August and they are dropping the 80GB price down to $399, I think it might help with sales a little bit this holiday season since the 80GB is backwards compatible.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

I might agree with the first half of your statement, but now that Sony is no longer making the 40GB PS3 after August and they are dropping the 80GB price down to $399, I think it might help with sales a little bit this holiday season since the 80GB is backwards compatible.

the new $399 80GB is not backwards compatible. it sucks i know.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

the new $399 80GB is not backwards compatible. it sucks i know.

so does that mean no PS3 in the future will be backwards compatible?

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

I might agree with the first half of your statement, but now that Sony is no longer making the 40GB PS3 after August and they are dropping the 80GB price down to $399, I think it might help with sales a little bit this holiday season since the 80GB is backwards compatible.

who cares how big a HDD you buy for your ps3, buy the cheapest one, and swap it out with a bigger HDD... its relatively painless and much cheaper!

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

who cares how big a HDD you buy for your ps3, buy the cheapest one, and swap it out with a bigger HDD... its relatively painless and much cheaper!

well obviously that won't have to happen now, will it

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

so does that mean no PS3 in the future will be backwards compatible?

yes, if you have some BC now, consider yourself lucky.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

well obviously that won't have to happen now, will it

Ive had to delete quite a bit of stuff to still have space on my 60GB, which is all but filled up.

Lots of games are requiring mandatory installs. Thats what eats up the space so fast.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

Ive had to delete quite a bit of stuff to still have space on my 60GB, which is all but filled up.

Lots of games are requiring mandatory installs. Thats what eats up the space so fast.

Right, and that is why I am saying that with the reduction in price of the 80GB to the 40GB price there will be more storage for less buck. It works out for the better, except for the backwards compatibility thing, which does suck.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

Right, and that is why I am saying that with the reduction in price of the 80GB to the 40GB price there will be more storage for less buck. It works out for the better, except for the backwards compatibility thing, which does suck.

yeah, its a nice upgrade, but I think what a lot of people here think is 40GB is not enough and neither is 80GB, so the point becomes moot as you are forced to upgrade your HDD either way.

However, for the majority of PS3 owners, I don't think its an issue.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

yeah, its a nice upgrade, but I think what a lot of people here think is 40GB is not enough and neither is 80GB, so the point becomes moot as you are forced to upgrade your HDD either way.

However, for the majority of PS3 owners, I don't think its an issue.

ok, now I see the point you are making. I agree to both of your statements. I was ranting on price while you were talking about space, mainly.

[Arivald Hagel]

Originally Posted by Peakman

I believe the number of blockbusters movies influence more the sale than anything else.
I am guessing streaming would not take off before people can have a black box in their living room, where they can order and start movies immediately from their remote.

The sale of Blu-Ray is kind of disappointing for the people that believed fast transition to BD from DVD. Only 1.78% after HD DVD is dead is not much, but what could be expected to perform for a format giving nothing more than higher PQ/AQ.

Lets hope that the prices on players and movies goes down to DVD-level as soon as possible so the general population maybe can be interested.

The sale of Blu-Ray is kind of disappointing? 340%/350% increase from a year ago is disappointing? You must be joking. An about this 1.78% increase after HD DVD is dead... some people owned both systems, so they just have stopped buying HD DVD since it is no loger here, and they buy about the same amount of BD. Other people that owned HD DVD have some grudges... so don't rush them, because you might scare them :P

[Peakman]

Originally Posted by Arivald Hagel

The sale of Blu-Ray is kind of disappointing? 340%/350% increase from a year ago is disappointing? You must be joking. An about this 1.78% increase after HD DVD is dead... some people owned both systems, so they just have stopped buying HD DVD since it is no loger here, and they buy about the same amount of BD. Other people that owned HD DVD have some grudges... so don't rush them, because you might scare them :P

1.78% is total market share first half of 2008. For me it looks beter than I expected. For other that expectet more it could be disapointing.

Last year they had around 0.5%. Thats why the large increas(350%)

[plee]

I think we'll get a better idea how DD will do once the Xbox/Netflix and PS3 stores open up. My feeling is that it will be a niche market because of the bandwidth issues will never be resolved and once it's known that it's lower bitrate HD.

[Grubert]

Related article by Marcy Magiera, Editor in chief, Video Business:

Flat is fat in 2008

In home entertainment, halfway through 2008, the world is flat. And that is a very good performance for a non-essential (believe it or not, movies are not necessary to maintain life) product category when the price of essentials like food, housing and gasoline are skyrocketing.

VB’s midyear research report shows consumer spending on sales and rentals of all home entertainment formats holding steady just above $10 billion. That’s a big improvement over the midyear mark in 2007, when home entertainment spending was down 5%.

Sales of standard DVD do look to be off 2% to 4%, according to various studio estimates, but rental is up and Blu-ray, with about $200 million in sales in the first half is offsetting the small standard format loss.

Let this be food thought for the critics who expected packaged home entertainment’s decline to accelerate in 2008 (it ended 2007 down 3%) and declared Blu-ray would never establish itself because consumers became enamored of digital delivery services while the two high-def camps were at war.

Just last week Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield, who in the past has been rather bearish on home entertainment, in a blog post reversed his earlier opinion that consumer spending on DVDs would decline at an accelerating rate this year after seeing their first decline last year. Greenfield raised his full-year DVD spending estimate to flat, with sell-through down 1% and rental up 1% and admits that might be too conservative give the strong slate of summer films headed to stores in the second half.

Greenfield based his reassessment on slightly overly optimistic midyear data from another source, but his conclusion is spot-on: “The DVD industry is not rapidly declining in favor of digital distribution (whose revenues remain completely insignificant to the Hollywood studios).”

Given the state of the U.S. economy, flat will be a good place for the industry to end this year. But the upcoming release slate and the potential for Blu-ray sales of $800 million to $1 billion do foster hope for more.

[partridge]

Someone needs to get in touch with this idiot that works for MS

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...u-ray-mattrick

Sorry, how exactly does a 4 hour download translate as instantaneous interaction with hi-def content?

And personally, NO - a downloaded movie is NOT high definition. It fits the 720p screen size and that's about it. No HD sound, no 1080p support

I hate the way these guys can spout this crap off but aren't prepared to open a channel for people to reply. The guy is a deluded moron.