UK DVD sales plunge...
...and still massively outsell 'booming' Blu-ray
Britons may be turning away from the DVD, but Blu-Ray Disc isn't replacing the decade-old format in consumers' affections.
The British Video Association (BVA) this week said DVD sales in the UK during the first six months of 2009 were down 9.5 per cent by volume - and considerably more than that by value - compared to the totals published this time last year.
By contrast, year-on-year UK BD sales were up 231 per cent. Which sounds good, until you see that it still only amounts to unit sales of a little more than 3.1m during the first six months of 2009 - up from 1.3m in the first six months of 2008.
There were 99.6m DVDs sold in the same period.
Even so, the BVA said that: "The continuing success of Blu-ray is testament to the growth of consumer confidence in the high-definition format."
Maybe, but BD is still clearly far from mainstream in the UK. Factor the Blu-ray 'boom' into the packaged media market and the value of the sales fell 14 per cent between H1 2008 and H1 2009, showing just how far DVD prices have plunged.
The BVA said that the recession was a key factor in the decline, not only because of its effect on consumer spending but for bringing about the demise of major retailers Zavvi and Woolworths - between then 15 per cent of the UK disc retail market. ®
COMMENTS
Won't Be Long
Until some media company blames it on piracy, as well as blaming everything else on piracy - the credit crunch, England's 5-0 hammering against the Aussies last tour down under, ebola, HIV, POt Noodle....
I'm not buying DVDs because there's nothing out there I want to buy on DVD and because money is tight. And if the industry thinks I'm buying anything Blu-Ray then it can kiss my pale hairy (and slightly explosive) backside.
Grenade because last night's Quorn has had unpleasant side effects
I think I know why DVD sales are down Its .....
HD DVD.
I have a Toshiba Laptop L200 1JV with a HD DVD in it.
And when I walked into Game Station and see brand new (not preowned ) FILMS AT £1.99 each
I got 19 of them lol. NO really I did
The laptops hooked up to my 37" LCD TV and it still hd films just not on blue ray and around 10* cheaper.
So no DVDs for me lol....
Coat icon as I'm Looking for money to get this years tech........LOL
Don't know about you but
In June I had a 50% Play.com sale that also went to 75% for older and obscure films. And Amazon did a similar thing for their stock. Both dropping series box sets to half their price.
So I bought a few films and paid 1.99, 2.99. because I liked them from years ago when I first saw them, or just filling some back catalogues of things like the "Philp K dick films" Even got a must have for 4.99
I won't be buying DVD's at full price anymore as lets be honest I have never watched any of the extras for 99% of the films I have, and last year I had 4 that were must buys.
So far this year I have seen 2 "must buys" and we are half way through. But I still won't pay more than a a fiver if I can get away with it as even "Must buys" can wait six months.
The rubbish prior the actual menu and all the warnings telling me not to buy illegal DVD's doesn't appear on illegal DVD's. Is it a wonder people download, or hack a copy without it?
I sometimes think the film and music business don't see the real world around them.
Pint because it is Friday.
9% < 15% (apparently without these brackets, this doesn't count as a title) ▲
I find it interesting that a medium which should be in decline anyway (due to rental, iplayer, HD, recession etc), combined with two retailers going down that accounted for 15% of all sales, that overall things only went down 9%. That's pretty decent I reckon for the old format.
@Hedley Phillips
"What is the point of buying a film and watching it more than once?"
Wow, really? I'm guessing you don't really appreciate film then. (After all, you are obviously not watching the films in the cinema, which is what they were designed for).
Out of interest, do you have the same attitude to music? After all, what is the point of buying a CD/MP3, you already know how the song goes. And why read a book more than once? Have you had the same meal more than once in your entire life? If so, why? You already know how the meal will taste.
No one I know is buy DVDs any more. Firstly there is very little worthwhile content at the moment. Secondly we are all waiting for the BluRay versions. Thirdly, when it comes to BluRay versions of box sets, we are waiting for the prices to drop to an acceptable level for a 10 year old TV show for example.
