DVD-Video Hailed as Most Successful Consumer Electronics Product Launch Ever; Industry Calls Format 'Medium of the Millennium'.Entertainment Editors & High-Tech Industry Writers CES 2000 LAS VEGAS--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2000 Enjoying even greater sales than expected in the all-important fourth quarter, DVD-Video was hailed as the most successful consumer electronics product launch ever. Figures compiled by the DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. Entertainment Group (formerly DVD Video Group) based on retail and manufacturer inventory levels announced today at CES estimate that hardware player sales sold through to consumers since the format launched have reached more than 5 million players in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. (United States and Canada). Industry executives named DVD-Video the "Medium of the Millennium" and boast that DVD-Video is the fastest-growing new packaged media format launch in history with close to 5.4 million DVD-Video players shipped to retail since the format launched nationally in the United States in fall 1997 (Consumer Electronics Association). The outlook for next year is equally promising. The DVD Entertainment Group estimates that hardware shipments will double to 8 million DVD-Video players in 2000. And, based on the success of the format exceeding all previous forecasts that number could be even higher. The group also estimates that the installed base will more than exceed 10 percent of U.S. households, a benchmark of success for a consumer electronics product. The surge in hardware sales is a positive boost for retailers. In 1999, DVD-Video hardware represented more than $1 billion in retail sales. This includes stand-alone players only and does not include DVD-ROM DVD-ROM: see digital versatile disc. A read-only DVD disc used to permanently store data files. DVD-ROM discs are widely used to distribute large software applications that exceed the capacity of a CD-ROM disc. drives or other home theater products. "With over 5 million players in consumer homes, DVD-Video has clearly reached mainstream acceptance," said Emiel N. Petrone, chairman, DVD Entertainment Group, and executive vice president - worldwide, Philips Entertainment Group. "The future for home video is here. `DVD is the Medium of the Millennium.'" There are now nearly 70 DVD Video player models marketed under 30 different consumer electronics brands. DVD Video players are widely available at mass merchants, electronics specialty stores, over the Internet and many other locations throughout the United States. Mass Market Availability In only its third year in the marketplace, DVD-Video player prices have declined significantly. According to Intelect ASW ASW Antisubmarine Warfare ASW Approved Social Worker ASW Application Software ASW a Small World (online community) ASW Art Supply Warehouse ASW Artificial Sea Water ASW Australian Standard White (wheat) , the average price sold for a DVD-Video player was $298 in November, down 30 percent from $428 at the same time last year. Some players and models are available for less than $200, making the format accessible to the mass market. "DVD sales exploded during the holiday season with stores reporting triple-digit increases in both hardware and software," said Joe Pagano, vice president - merchandising, Best Buy. "These spectacular results can be attributed to enthusiastic acceptance by the consumer, reduction of hardware prices, the release of popular titles such as 'The Matrix,' 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Mummy,' and the introduction of Disney Classics." DVD-Video: A Huge Revenue Source for Studios and Labels The DVD Entertainment Group estimates that DVD-Video brought in revenue of more than $2 billion for Hollywood studios and music labels in 1999. According to figures compiled by Ernst & Young on behalf of the DVD Entertainment Group, nearly 100 million DVD movies and music videos shipped in 1999. In the fourth quarter alone almost 50 million DVD movies and music videos shipped to retail. This figure represents virtually the same amount that shipped in the first nine months of 1999 and is a 400 percent growth over the same period in 1998. Since the format's launch, software shipments have reached more than 130 million units, according to the DVD Entertainment Group. And, the DVD Entertainment Group expects the industry to double its 1999 sales by shipping at least 200 million DVD movies and music videos in 2000, representing $4 billion in revenue for the studios and music labels, approximately half of the total revenue generated from the VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. sell-through. "This year we began to see initial shipments of 1 million software units," said Paul Culberg, president, DVD Entertainment Group, and executive vice president - worldwide, Columbia TriStar Home Video. "Titles like 'The Matrix' (Warner Home Video Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video (for Warner Communications, Inc.). It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980. ), 'Titanic' (Paramount Home Video), 'Saving Private Ryan' (DreamWorks Home Entertainment), 'The Mummy' (Universal Studios Home Video) and 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged shag 1 n. 1. A tangle or mass, especially of rough matted hair. 2. a. A coarse long nap, as on a woolen cloth. b. Cloth having such a nap. 3. A rug with a thick rough pile. Me' (New Line Home Video) all had initial orders of 1 million units shipped to retail. Clearly, DVD-Video is here to stay." With all the major movie studios and music labels supporting the DVD-Video format, there are more than 5,000 titles now available. The DVD Entertainment Group predicts that number to swell to more than 8,500 next year. The DVD Entertainment Group is a Los Angeles-based, industry-funded nonprofit corporation nonprofit corporation n. an organization incorporated under state laws and approved by both the state's Secretary of State and its taxing authority as operating for educational, charitable, social, religious, civic or humanitarian purposes. that exists expressly to promote consumer awareness of the benefits of DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and DVD-ROM-based games, and to provide updated information to the media and the retail trade about DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players, movies and music videos. Regular members of the DVD Entertainment Group are Artisan Entertainment, BMG BMG Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Germand: Federal Ministry for Health) BMG Be My Girl BMG Blue Man Group BMG Bertelsmann Music Group BMG Be My Guest BMG Browning Machine Gun BMG Bulk Metallic Glass Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Home Video, DreamWorks Home Entertainment, EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) An electrical disturbance in a system due to natural phenomena, low-frequency waves from electromechanical devices or high-frequency waves (RFI) from chips and other electronic devices. Allowable limits are governed by the FCC. Recorded Music, Image Entertainment, MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. Home Entertainment, New Line Home Video, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co., Paramount Home Video, Philips Consumer Electronics Philips Consumer Electronics is a part of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (usually known as Philips); and is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2005, its sales were € 30.4 billion (US$38. Co., Pioneer Electronics (USA), Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics, Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment is a major global record label controlled by the Sony Corporation. In 1988, Sony Corporation acquired CBS Records, Inc. for $2 billion. CBS Inc., now CBS Corporation, retained the rights to the CBS name, and Sony renamed the label , Sony Wonder, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Toshiba America Consumer Products, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Universal Studios Home Video, USA Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and Warner Music Group Warner Music Group (WMG) is one of the four major record labels. Warner Music Group also has a publishing arm, Warner/Chappell Music, which dates back to 1929, when Jack Warner, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. . Associate members are Alpha Enterprises, Americ Disc, Cinram, California Video Center, Crest National, Disc Graphics, JVC JVC Victor Company of Japan (or Japan's Victor Company) JVC Jewelers Vigilance Committee JVC Jesuit Volunteer Corps JVC Jet Vane Control (directs VLS-launched missiles) JVC Jonker-Volgenant-Castanon Disc America, Panasonic Disc Services Corp., Pioneer Video Manufacturing, Sony Disc Manufacturing, Sony Pictures DVD Center, Technicolor and Warner Advanced Media Operations. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion