Products' Popularity Continues To Grow At An Explosive Rate

The handwriting is on the wall, and so are the DVDs. About 18 months ago, retail stores and video rental shops had shelf after shelf of videotapes for sale or rent. If they carried DVDs at all, the ratio was usually about 20 videotapes to every one DVD. Now the shelf space ratio is down to about three-to-one in favor of videotape. And don't be surprised if the margin tips in favor of DVD in another 18 months. Sales Skyrocket Though DVD players have been on the market only three years, nearly 5 million people have DVD players in their homes, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. It is the most successful product introduction in electronics history, the association said. In 1997, the first year DVD players came on the retail market, 349,000 of them were sold. The second year more than a million were sold, and last year sales were 3.5 million. By comparison, CD players, introduced in the early 1980s, sold 35,000 units their first year and 1 million in their third. VCR sales didn't take off as fast as DVD sales when VCRs were introduced, but VCR sales still far outweigh DVD sales at this point. Nearly 23 million VCRs sold last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. The impact of DVDs in the marketplace is dramatic. The selection of DVD players has exploded in the past year, prices are falling and they were one of the hottest technology gift items last Christmas 1999. DVD prices are not falling nearly as fast as prices of competing formats. If you haven't shopped for a VCR or CD player you may be shocked by the bargains currently available. Super VHS players, for example, are available for less than $300, about half what they sold for a few years ago.CD player prices are similarly depressed. As mentioned earlier, CD players were introduced in the early 1980s, so many of the first- and second-generation players are reaching the end of their lifespans. But instead of buying new CD players, many consumers are opting for DVD players. DVD players, whose prices are comparable to those of CD players a couple years ago, not only play DVD movies, but also CDs. Replacing a CD player with a DVD player provides extra entertainment options without spending much extra money. VCRs aren't going to go away completely any time soon, however. Nearly 23 million VCR decks sold last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. One drawback of DVD at this point is that you can't make your own DVD recordings the way you can make recordings with your VCR. Recordable DVD may show up someday, but that's not expected within the next few years. Liz Greene, a spokeswoman for Blockbuster Entertainment said Blockbuster expects to carry both formats for the foreseeable future. Blockbuster stores started carrying DVDs last year, and Greene said the average store in the chain carries about 200 DVD titles for rental and 50 for sale. ""Projections say that by the year 2007, VCRs will be in 90 million homes,"" Greene said. ""DVDs should be in 40 to 50 million homes by that time. ""There's no reason people shouldn't have both. DVD and videotape complement each other."" DVD Basics DVD originally stood for Digital Video Disc, and a few marketing types for a while tried to get consumers to call them Digital Versatile Discs. But like VCR and CD, the initials have become the name. A DVD is a thin, rigid plastic disk about five inches wide, just like a CD or a computer CD-ROM or a digital game system disc, but a DVD can be packed with more information. Information is stored digitally (as a numeric code) on the shiny surface of the disc. A laser device scans the information, and a processor interprets the data as video and audio signals. DVD movies also often come with extra footage not seen in theatrical releases, movie trailers, interviews and related music videos. The overwhelming majority of DVDs are movies. They sell for about $10 to $35, with most selling for about $19.99 and $24.99. DVD player prices start at about $170 in local stores, and several high-end models fall in the $2,000 to $5,000 range. A few models cost more than $25,000. Most sell for $200 to $800, and prices are dropping. If you're in the market for a DVD player you should be aware that DVD still is a developing technology, and DVD players five years from now probably will be completely different than those being sold now. One big question is how DVD will interface with high-definition television. DVD is a digital format that produces higher picture resolution than VHS videotape and current broadcast television signals, but DVD players currently don't produce the picture quality level needed to meet the official high-definition standard. By the time basic television broadcasts are in high definition a few years down the road, DVD players may also be capable of high-definition performance. Another issue is networking. A major trend in home electronics is convergence the linking of computers, home entertainment equipment and other home appliances into a single network that allows all the electronic gear to work together better. Because a single standard for networking has yet to be widely adopted, electronic components sold today may not connect easily to network-ready components when they become available. One strategy is to buy a moderately priced DVD player with the understanding that it probably will be replaced within five years. Source: Cox News Service