Source: DVD Report, Phillips Business Information, Copyright Phillips Publishing, Inc.
Pioneer's HD-DVD Prototype Highlights CES 2000
DVD more than held its own at last week's 2000 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, among an array of sexy new products including MP3, HDTV, digital radio and hard-disk based digital video recorders. DVD, particularly DVD-Video, was boosted by new player model announcements, the unveiling of an HD DVD player, and some favorable statistics from the DVD Entertainment Group (formerly the DVD Video Group). The fact that there were DVD-related no-shows at CES - notably DVD-Audio (there were players present, but with little fanfare due to the launch delay), Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's X-Box (the latter two will presumably be on view at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May) - stole little from DVD's thunder. ""With over 5 million players in consumer homes, DVD-Video has clearly reached mainstream acceptance,"" said Emiel Petrone, Chairman of the DVD Entertainment Group, at that association's event the first night of the show. ""DVD is the medium of the millennium."" (With a nod toward the coming DVD-Audio and DVD-ROM markets, the DVD Video Group took its new name and signed on the five major U.S. record labels as regular members on the eve of CES.) Petrone went on to predict that DVD-Video will reach a 12% installed base in U.S. consumer homes by the end of 2000. (A 10% installed base is considered mass-market acceptance.) He added that 50 million DVD-Video discs shipped during the fourth quarter of 1999, and more than 130 million units have shipped since the format's launch in early 1997. The true blockbusters are ""The Matrix"" (Warner Home Video), ""Titanic"" (Paramount), ""Saving Private Ryan"" (DreamWorks), ""The Mummy"" (Universal), and ""Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"" (New Line Home Video), the Group said, noting that each of those titles shipped more than 1 million units initially. The DVD Entertainment Group predicts that 200 million DVD-Video discs will ship in 2000, representing $4 billion in revenues - about 50 percent of total VHS sell-through revenue. Retail sales of set-top DVD-Video players were worth more than $1 billion in 1999, the Group said, even as it noted that average price points for those players have declined steadily. Average Selling Price of a DVD-Video Player Date Price 11/98 $428 11/99 $298 Source: DVD Entertainment Group Hold Your HD Horses Pioneer's unveiling of a HD-DVD prototype was the most exciting DVD breakthrough at CES, but Bill Whalen, Pioneer Electronics Assistant Product Manager, Consumer Video Home Electronics Product Planning, was quick to emphasize that the player is just a prototype. Whalen refused to speculate on how long it will take an HD-DVD player to get to market, and at what price it might be launched. [Editor's Note: The fact that Pioneer would not even speculate on a release date would suggest that HD-DVD is at least two years away, if not more.] Pioneer's HD-DVD player prototype is based on a 27.4 GB DVD using blue-violet laser. Pioneer has already launched its DVD-RW video recorder in Japan, with plans to bring it to the U.S. in late 2000. Whalen wouldn't speculate on the price, but Pioneer's DVD-RW unit launched in Japan last month retailed for about $2500 (DVD Report, December 6).