Divxís Millionth Disc Has Been Sold

Divx has announced on February 22 that the company has crossed the threshold of selling its millionth disc to its primary retailers and online Web store. ""Since most of our players were sold only within the last two-and-a-half months, exceeding the one million mark by this date is extraordinary,"" said Paul Brindze, president of Divx Entertainment. ""Our customers clearly are taking advantage of the convenience and affordability of Divx movie discs.""The one-million-disc threshold represents the sale of Divx software from Divxís national launch date on September 25, 1998, through last weekend at a total of 742 retail locations, including all Circuit City, the good guys!, Ultimate Electronics, Audio King, SoundTrack, Nationwide, 6th Avenue, DOW Stereo/Video and Future Shop U.S. stores. The figure also includes disc sales through Divxís online DivxFlix store at www.divx.com.Richard Sharp, Chairman and CEO, announced at Januaryís Consumer Electronics Show that 535 Divx discs had been sold by the end of last year. That figure now has nearly doubled through the first seven weeks of 1999. Of course, Divx disc sales still pale in comparison to ""open"" DVD disc sales which, according to VideoScan, more than 1.85 million ""open"" DVD discs have been sold through the same January/February 1999 period. Divx is also reporting that more than 100,000 Divx-featured DVD-Video players have been sold in the U.S. That figure was 87,000 through the end of 1998.According to the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA), 125,000 ""open"" DVD players were sold in January after peaking at more than 600,000 machines in December.Since last fallís national launch, the number of titles available on Divx disc has more than doubled, from 150 to more than 350 today. Popular recent titles include Thereís Something About Mary, ANTZ, Six Days, Seven Nights and Out Of Sight. As far as widescreen output, Divx remains uncommitted to the theatrical format, though the company has announced the release of a widescreen version of DreamWorksí Amistad, its fourth widescreen release. The April release will include several special features: a made-for-TV special entitled ""The Making Of Amistad,"" production notes, theatrical trailer and cast biographies. This is the first Divx title ever to include supplemental in addition to the movie. Previous widescreen Divx titles released are Tomorrow Never Dies, Deep Impact and Armageddon.Under its licensing agreements, titles released on Divx must be available at the same time the movie appears on VHS. Still some studios remain reluctant to grant ""open"" DVD day-and-date status with VHS, hurting the formatís appeal with customers. For more information contact Josh Dare at Divx, 804 418 8237.