DVD Industry Ships A Record Three Billion DVDs Since Launch; More Than 100 Million DVD Players Sold to Date in the U.S.

23-Jul-04

Members of the DEG: Digital Entertainment Group met with top retailers and industry leaders today at the DVD Retail Summit during the VSDA Home Entertainment 2004 to announce that DVD continues to be one of the best selling home entertainment formats with robust sales for the first half of 2004. Consumer enthusiasm for DVD, whether new blockbuster hits, the growing non-theatrical categories or music on DVD titles, has led the industry to ship 649 million DVD titles to retail in the first six months of 2004. This is a 52 percent increase over the same period last year according to figures compiled by Kaplan, Swicker and Simha on behalf of the DEG: Digital Entertainment Group. Since the format came to market in 1997, software shipments in North America have reached a whopping three billion units -- faster than any other home entertainment medium. There are currently some 34,000 DVD titles in release. ìIt is encouraging to see the continued excitement that consumers have for DVD, whether it be the early adopter who continues to be an avid collector or families who more recently began to embrace the format,"" said Bob Chapek, president, Buena Vista Home Entertainment and president, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. ""The variety of top-selling titles demonstrates this insatiable enthusiasm across a number of genres, with the average consumer buy rate still at about 16 per household each year. This is unprecedented for a format, particularly as our installed base climbs well beyond half of all U.S. homes."" According to figures compiled by the DEG based on data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), retailers and manufacturers, nearly 13 million DVD players were sold to consumers in the first half of 2004, a 25 percent increase over the same period last year. More than 103 million DVD players have sold since launch, bringing the number of DVD households to nearly 62 million -- adjusting for the 40 percent or 25 million DVD homes with more than one player. Homes with more than one DVD player have grown eight percent so far this year due to a variety of models meeting consumer demands, lower price points and continued consumer enthusiasm for the format. ""In just seven years, the DVD format has driven demand for prerecorded entertainment in ways never anticipated,"" said Mike Fidler, Senior Vice President, Home Products, Sony Electronics and Vice President, DEG. ""It is a key factor behind the industry's rapid migration to widescreen digital television, as well as the foundation for true high definition video platforms in the future."" The DEG: Digital Entertainment Group is a Los Angeles-based, industry-funded nonprofit corporation that advocates and promotes the many benefits associated with DVD while providing updated information regarding the format to both the media and the retail trade. The DEG also offers opportunities for member companies to engage in ongoing discussions concerning various issues and opportunities which relate to other new digital technologies that may emerge in the future. Regular members of the DEG are Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, DreamWorks Home Entertainment, DTS Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music, GoodTimes Entertainment, HBO Video, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, Image Entertainment, JVC Company of America, Lions Gate Entertainment, MGM Home Entertainment, New Line Home Entertainment, Panasonic Consumer Electronics, Paramount Home Entertainment, Philips Consumer Electronics, Pioneer Electronics (USA), Sony Electronics, Sony Music Entertainment, Thomson, Toshiba America Consumer Products, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Universal Studios Home Video and Warner Home Video. Associate members are Alta Resources, Ascent Media, Broadcast Text, Deluxe Media Services, InterActual Technologies, Macrovision, Muze, and Sony DADC. For more information, please visit www.digitalentertainmentinfo.com.

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