As the year 2008 draws to a close, we're seeing
report after
report talking about Blu-ray sales and / or adoption. The latest to focus on the former comes from Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield, who has reportedly stated that new DVD release sales are down "almost double digits," even despite respectable performance in the first half of the year. Said figure may help explain why the rental business is
doing so well, but we digress. Greenfield also notes that DVDs are slowly but surely
losing floor space to BDs, and given that not nearly as many folks are buying the high-def format just yet, it's not exactly helping the DVD cause. Beyond all that, he notes that Blu-ray trends are "encouraging," with titles that appeal to gamers (and thus, PS3 owners) doing particularly well. Then again, it's easy to look good during the holidays, but how will things look when everyone's third home equity loan is dried up in March?
[Image courtesy of
BusinessWeek]
posted Dec 10th 2008 3:53PM
I'm so bored of these f**king analysts.
Rather hear them talk about Blu-Ray over Apple.
I agree
Every electronic store (or department) I've been to recently has Blu-ray movies and players front and center.
Of course, the $25-$40 price range on the movies shoos me along...
$40?
Are you referring to a TV show box set or something, or are you just shopping at places that are reeeally ripping people off?
@Spider
Sure.. there are movies at almost $40 in retail. Not shows or boxsets. And guess what, just because you buy your titles on deals online doesn't mean that majority of people does. Most people still shop at retail stores and pay the prices, so yes he is right.
Bozster if you think that "most people buy at retail", you are conceding that the format is entering mainstream, since the early adopters and the PS3 demographic would be more tech savvy than that. I sincerly doubt many people pay $40 for a movie, and if they do well so what? There are plenty of outlets in the real world and online where you can obtain movies for much less. If a person buys at a store offering the worst value then that that's their own fault.
Anyone with experience of the last format shift also knows that prices drop as a format goes mainstream. Walmart is already selling recognizable movies from $10 up and the trend will continue. Blu Ray will have its own bargain bins before long if price bothers you.
i just got terminator 2 on blu-ray for like $12...those $30-40 prices should start coming down soon,remember this is how dvd's were when they first came out they were wicked expensive
again.. Terminator on Blu-Ray you might've grabbed on sale for $12 but that same movie on DVD costs between $1.99 and $4. So what you paid is not such deal now is it?
Also.. Blu-Ray is on the market almost 3 years.. how long do we have to wait until prices go down, a decade?
@Bozter. As a matter of fact, I don't buy very many blu-rays online at all, and I can safely say I've never paid $40 for Any single title out of the 100 I have.
Bozter... who cares if the price of Terminator 2 costs $1-4 on DVD? I bet I can find the VHS for .50 cents. Does that mean that the DVD isn't a good bargain? The $12 price for T2 is a bargain relative to the $30 price of blu-rays out there. You say how long do we have to wait for prices to come down etc... and you complain its already been 3-4 years. Well, blu-ray only won the war earlier this year. And has to contend with a ton of other ways to get media as opposed to DVD vs. VHS.
You act as if DVD's are super-cheap nowadays... Go and tell me the retail price of the Dark Knight on DVD and see just how cheap it is. I couldn't find one near me that was less than $20.00
I remember paying close to $40.00 when Titanic came out on DVD in 1997-1998... Simple fact is that new formats and technology always have a high price and come down as more and more people buy it. Granted blu-rays are high compared to dvd's now... but they are similar in price as to when DVD was new. And dont go say its no a good dea because you got the dvd for less. That would be like saying, buying a porsche for 25,000 isn't a bargain because you got your Hyundai for less than 10,000.
I've only seen a 8-10 dollar premium of blu-rays over dvd's... Dark Knight on DVD is 19.99 new, while the blu-ray is 29.99...
Most of my first DVDs that I purchased were $20 online or more. I don't think Blu is doing too badly at all. Looking at those early titles and what they are now in HD, some aren't available yet to compare but those that are cost a bit more or a bit less. Overall, prices are probably a couple of dollars max north of what I was paying in 1999. It certainly won't hurt though when some titles start appearing in bargain bins. There are too many titles (including lots of really bad/mediocre/watchable ones) and too many BD owners now for stores to expect people to pay full price for the novelty of seeing a bad movie in HD.
The last numbers I saw said DVD annual sales were down 4%.
Just 4%.
Considering how many other means of delivery are supposed to be chipping away at DVD's market share I'd call that an amazing result.
DVD by numbers sold or earnings is still - by a very long way - 'king'.
I'd love to be able to discuss Blu-ray numbers properly but the BDA make sure no-one really can by refusing to release sales numbers for titles at 3, 6, 9, 12 months and beyond.
Even in a market of 1 and after almost 3yrs.
Suspicious?
I do know that DVD sells around 1.7+ billion units in the USA & around 7+ billion worldwide.
Blu-ray has yet to breach even the 2% mark on those figures
(and - excluding PS3 Blu-ray discs, they have encouraged a little confusion there afterall - even more than a whole 1% is unlikely).
The economic slump (yet to even hit fully) means everything tanks next year (probably for a couple of years at least).
I doubt such a non-essential like a new video format stands much hope in that climate.
I picked up Iron Man and 3 others on amazon's Black Friday sale for $14.99. Wal-Mart has 7 or 8 blu-ray titles for $10. Granted they are not hot new titles but they are marketing them to the many folks that bought blu-ray players for under $200 and now want to see what the fuss is all about. Smart marketing in you ask me. I'm sure that many of these new owners will be buying copies of The Dark Knight this week. That movies should knock their socks off, especially if they have a decent sound system.
Die DVD die!!!
No, No, No, DVD must live!!