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DVD Sales Plummet.....Blu Ray not enuf to make up

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The article below is copied from a Yahoo tech article.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/123584

DVD sales plummet, Blu-ray unable to save the day

The numbers for 2008 are in and they don't look good: DVD sales are now showing the first signs that they're about to go into free-fall, just like sales of CDs did a few years ago.

For the second year running, DVD sales have slipped. After hitting a high of $24.1 billion in 2006, the total sales volume his $21.6 billion in 2008, a total decline of about 10 percent off the 2006 high.

DVD's purported savior -- Blu-ray -- has been unable to rise to the rescue so far. Blu-ray (and leftover HD DVD) disc sales hit just $750 million last year, which doesn't nearly make up for the loss in sales of DVD media. Since Blu-ray discs are more expensive than DVDs, the overall unit sales decline is even more worrisome for Hollywood -- and some studios are seeing income plummet accordingly. For example, Fox operating income dropped 72 percent last year after seeing DVD sales fall just 15 percent.

Hits aren't going to save the day, either: Warner Bros. had the #1 selling DVD of 2008, The Dark Knight, but saw overall DVD sales drop 24 percent nonetheless. Disney -- running out of "classics from the vault" to reissue -- had a whopping 33 percent drop in DVD sales last year.

Naturally, the recession is being targeted as the culprit for all the bad news, but pundits say other factors are at play. One big issue? Former Fox and Disney executive Bill Mechanic says that the introduction of Blu-ray media has led studios to radically cut prices on their older DVDs as they attempt to position Blu-ray as a superior good. That plan may have backfired, instead driving consumers to snap up cheap DVDs instead. Says Mechanic, "It’s devalued the libraries. If you can buy Titanic for $4.99 versus $19.99 for a new, but lesser, movie on Blu-ray, consumers will say, 'Well, wait a minute…'"

To be sure, Blu-ray is growing -- up 250 percent since 2007 -- but it still represents less than 3.5 percent of the overall market. Analysts now wonder whether Blu-ray will be able to pick up steam fast enough -- or if the future has already been handed over to online downloading and streaming alternatives. With companies like Netflix rushing into streaming as quickly as possible, that certainly seems like a strong possibility.
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mitch4t
chadnliz's avatar
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
I do agree BluRay is only marginally better and not enough for most to adopt both the new player and its higher priced movies and as long as DVD is still around Blu Ray isnt gonna compete fast enough to help any studio. If somebody wants to suggest BR is way better then go for it but I own HDVD and borrowed BR players and also view them on a 92in HD Projector, while its better its not enough better than my Lexicon 480P to fuss over.......nor is the sound (which before you jump in was wired from internal decoder into Multi channel RCA).
All the same I will likely go BR this year as I simply am a nerd and want it.
Next we will see a bailout for Hollywood or perhaps some stupid voucher to buy a BluRay player but as long as movies cost what they do and the stars command insane salaries for often really crap material and performance I will have no tears for any of them.
maineiac
649 posts
 
I don't see the value in purchasing movies anymore regardless of BR (fantastic!) or DVD. We use our Blockbuster subscription by mail or walk-in to basically watch any movie we want anytime we want. We have a pretty decent DVD collection but rarely use it, maybe a couple time a month.
johnnyb53
3,490 posts
 
This thread is certainly a study in perceptions and values. Some posters here have much nicer displays than I do but don't think Blu-ray is worth the extra trouble and money. My HD display is a lowly 55" LCD-driven rear-projection 720p Hitachi. I don't have 120Hz refresh nor any way to display 24fps in native mode. And yet, once I saw my first HD DVD (and later, Blu-ray) discs played over my TV, I swore I'd never buy another std-def DVD again, and that's been an easy promise to live up to. I want all the resolution I can get. I pay the extra $1/mo. to have Blu-ray in my Netflix profile, and I have filled my queue with Blu-ray discs.

I can barely stand to watch std-def DVDs on my TV. And I also know that this is nowhere nearly as good as it can get. I've seen 1080p Blu-ray sources played over 1080p displays that can display native mode 24 fps, and it's better than movie theaters. It's also way better than HD cable.

I'm also not set up to decode the lossless codecs yet, but even the Blu-ray's downconverted soundtracks sound better than std-def DVD because of the faster transfer rate.

Some Blu-ray discs have an indifferent digital transfer, and the 1st gen discs (from 2007) were mostly crammed onto 25 GB single-layer discs, but the latest ones have been excellent and some--especially those from Paramount--are breathtaking.

I refuse to half-close my eyes and pretend std-def DVD is as good as the theater or Blu-ray. It isn't.
chadnliz's avatar
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
If you cant stand or "barely" can watch a SD DVD then something is wrong with your player, monitor or eyes, if I were to have you over for a movie on my 92in Projector fed by a 480P DVD signal you would never notice. I noted earlier that I own HDDVD and borrowed a BR disc player and its just not heads and tails better......its better but not like VCR to DVD, the players cost isnt an issue for me but the movie cost is criminal IMO.
jamesw20
269 posts
 
Chadliz, I completely agree that cost is too high. But I remember this same discussion about 10-12 years ago regarding sd dvd vs. vhs. True quality dvd had better quality but cost difference was huge. I think as more options with br 2.0 are available and cost comes down opinions will change. In the meantime I buy used on ebay for $10-12 max.
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