Korean won has made bluray too expensive

[Ectoplasm]

The South Korean won has taken a huge dump. We're now at 1415 to 1 US dollar. It was 950 to 1 US dollar this past summer!

Blu-rays are now becoming incredibly expensive at stores around here. Imports have gone up in price by nearly 50%.

This is killing me!

A store wanted 38,000 won for a USED copy of Ironman. I would have paid around 20,000 for that this summer, had it been out an equal time!

[pitabun]

Originally Posted by Ectoplasm

The South Korean won has taken a huge dump. We're now at 1415 to 1 US dollar. It was 950 to 1 US dollar this past summer!

Blu-rays are now becoming incredibly expensive at stores around here. Imports have gone up in price by nearly 50%.

This is killing me!

A store wanted 38,000 won for a USED copy of Ironman. I would have paid around 20,000 for that this summer, had it been out an equal time!

ouch, but that's great for visitors like me!

[Leopold BUTTERS]

Originally Posted by Ectoplasm

The South Korean won has taken a huge dump. We're now at 1415 to 1 US dollar. It was 950 to 1 US dollar this past summer!

Blu-rays are now becoming incredibly expensive at stores around here. Imports have gone up in price by nearly 50%.

This is killing me!

A store wanted 38,000 won for a USED copy of Ironman. I would have paid around 20,000 for that this summer, had it been out an equal time!

26 dollars is not even expensive, i pay pretty much the same, 30 dollars CDN is about 26-27 american.

*Edit*

oops you said used...how much are movies new there?

[Ratdaddy]

I remember when i was in Korea in 1974 and 75 the rate was 480 won to 1 US dollar...

[Ectoplasm]

The new movies they have in stock (from before the tanking Korean won) have gone up about $3 to $5 in price. The exception to this are the overstocked ones that have been out for ages and everybody has (Closer, Kung Fu Hustle, Mr.&Mrs. Smith, Hitch, 50 First Dates, etc). The frustrating thing is that I'm not seeing new releases at the moment. Only imports that are in excess of $35.

Here is the story about Sony Pictures leaving Korea. Does this mean no more Korean blu-rays and only imports?


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...123_30420.html

Foreign Movie Studios Shut Down Operations
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

The recent buzz in theaters is ``Batman: The Dark Knight,’’ but Kim Seong-gyu, a self-proclaimed movie buff, isn’t bothering to get a ticket. Kim saw the movie twice before it opened in Korean cinemas last month.

``I downloaded it on an Internet peer-to-peer site,’’ said Kim, a 31-year-old office worker.

``I think the picture quality could have been better but you can’t complain too much if you aren’t paying for it,’’ he said.

It is often said that Koreans, regarded as one of the most tech-savvy people in the world, live two or three years ahead of everyone else. However, the movie industry is certainly hoping that the country isn’t representative of the future of film distribution.

According to industry sources, Sony Pictures, which became the first foreign movie studio to enter the Korean DVD market in 1999 by releasing ``Fly Away From Home,’’ is closing its domestic unit this month after enduring a decade of sluggish sales.

Sony was the last among major movie studios to grind it out in the difficult Korean market. Paramount, Universal, Buena Vista and 20th Century Fox packed their bags in 2006 and last year.

``Officials from our U.S. headquarters will visit Seoul soon to handle the withdrawal process,’’ said a representative of Sony Pictures Korea.

Selling DVD products is a challenge in a country with one of the highest broadband penetration rates on Earth. According to a survey by the Korean Film Council, 47.3 percent of respondents said they have downloaded movies from the Internet at least once. The number doesn’t include Internet users who paid for accessing unauthorized clips.

``If we count those who paid 100 won or more for pirated clips, the rate for illegal downloads would be closer to 70 percent,’’ said Kim Jong-ho, an official from the film council.

The Korean market for DVD products and video is expected to be around 328 billion won ($289 million) this year, half of the 773 billion won in 2002.

The mighty Internet is also killing video stores, once ubiquitous in any Korean city but now becoming an endangered species.

The country had more than 10,000 video rental outlets in 2001, but had just 3,500 at the end of last year. The number of ``video rooms,’’ where customers pay to watch a video or DVD title, stood at 800 last year, down from 2,400 in 2001.

Although Internet piracy is more of a concern, movie studios are frustrated about the private DVD copies sold on the streets. Street vendors camped in front of subway stations selling three to four private copies for a single 10,000 won bill are almost part of the landscape. In the film council’s survey, 8.1 percent of respondents said they have bought pirated DVD copies on the streets at least once.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Leopold BUTTERS

26 dollars is not even expensive, i pay pretty much the same, 30 dollars CDN is about 26-27 american.

Check again.

CAD$30 = US$23.48 (as of this writing)

That whistling you've been hearing is the sound of loonies in freefall.

Gary