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View SlideshowFirst the bad news - the U.S. economy ain’t all roses lately. The good news? Home entertainment spending is rolling right along with over $6 billion spent on DVD on Blu-ray discs alone. Add in rentals and that number climbs to over $10 billion. That’s quite a relief for industry execs who had braced themselves (and the Blu-ray format) for a rough ride through 2008.
Why the success? Experts suggest that given the high cost of going out (dinner, drinks, movies) the home theater experience has become more attractive and certainly more frugal. “It’s a bit reminiscent of the last recession during the ’90s, when consumers were also not going out as much and wanted a home entertainment experience,” says Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “I think it’s extraordinary that the business is holding up this well, given how much of consumers’ dollars are being sucked up by increases in gas and food.”
Lori MacPherson, general manager for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, North America adds “I think people are becoming pickier on what they spend their money on, but home entertainment always represents a good value. Thirty dollars for a Blu-ray movie that you can watch over and over again is still a great value.”
I could argue the $30 price point, and i suspect most consumers would agree that $15-20 would be a better sweet spot for our wallets. However, Blu-ray is gaining ground and many consumers are obviously comfortable with the current pricing, players included. According to Mike Dunn of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, “We are trending 8% Blu-ray sales [per title], and at the end of the year, we will be between 10% and 12%.”
He added retailers are expanding their Blu-ray shelves without eliminating standard DVD inventory and noted that market has widened 5% in the last year over the same period the prior 12 months. Indeed, Dunn’s estimates ring true as Blu-ray sales (discs) generated more than $200 million in the first half of this year - a 300% increase over this point in 2007.
The future of Blu-ray has been beaten every which way but loose here on EH, but regardless of format preferences, it’s notable that the new kid on the media block has done so well in such a hostile environment.
Feel free to comment below.
Source: videobusiness.com
After I bought my HDTV, I waited until who would win. Well, the winner’s Blu ray, sold my 360 + HD DVD addon for a PS3, and I’m all set. I only have a few blu rays, I’ve got Spiderman 3, Batman Begins, and Simpsons movie. And you guys should really check out amazon.com for blu rays, they’re surprisingly cheap.
I haven’t bought a regular DVD since I got my PS3 and HD-DVD player about a year ago. The difference in audio/picture quality is enormous.
While I’ve been able to stock up on HD-DVDs because of the price drop when the format died(you can get many for $9.99 now), I’ve become more discretionary in my Blu-ray spending. I have passed on several movies that I probably would have bought if they were at standard DVD prices.
If I think I am only going to watch a movie once, I’ll wait til’ it goes on sale or comes out on 1 of the HD cable movie channels.
I’m spending less on DVDs now than I was a year ago. When I look at my 200+ standard DVDs, 90% of which I will never watch again, it serves to remind me to exercise more caution when purchasing blu-rays.
Several weeks ago, I traded in my standard DVDs that I had replaced with hi-def. I was only able to get a dollar each for them :-(
The guy at the store said everybody’s trading in their stuff now because of the economy. Of course, he may just be saying that to negotiate a lower price, but I took it anyways.
found this tidbit regarding Blu-ray sales in the UK, interesting comparison:
“Sales in the first half of 2008 are up 3.3% compared with the same period last year, thanks to the increased level of consumer choice provided by high-definition formats, the BVA said, adding that Blu-ray Discs are up 506% year to date and have a 1.2% share in the total market. The BVA said 111.6 million units had been sold this year, including nearly 1 million Blu-ray Discs.”
via: [url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com[/url]
The pundits are forgetting that the Blu-ray business is currently a supplement to the larger DVD business. Many people who have moved onto Blu-ray quit buying DVD outright. I myself quit buying DVD in 2005.
Blu-ray is a path back to those consumers.
Will it completely replace DVD? Maybe, but not for several years. It will probably take just as long as it did for DVD to surpass VHS. And that took at least six years.
But for me as a collector, I am very happy all the studios seem to be embracing Blu-ray. I have no interest in downloading HD-lite (overly compressed/filtered bit-starved) titles.
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I’m as frugal as they come. So for me, I’ll buy a BR player when they hit the $100 range.
I’ll start buying BR disks when they start showing up in the walmart $5 bin. ;)