Home Media Magazine - January 13-19, 2007 - (Page 22)

NEWS Panasonic Bows Largest HDTV Continued from page 8 www.homemediamagazine.com DEG Releases 2007 Sales Numbers Continued from page 1 introducing four Internet-enabled units. (See story, page 8.) The 42-inch model uses half the energy of Panasonic’s current models. The company also unveiled a 50-inch plasma TV just 24.7mm (less than one inch) thick. In keeping with size fixations and high-definition (the latter a common theme at CES), Panasonic sees the HDTV emerging as the “digital hearth” in the 21st century home. To fill the hearth, Panasonic unveiled HomeBase, a free-standing device that can transmit Blu-ray movies, TV, cable and Web content wirelessly via “beam steering technology” to the HDTV. It will be available to consumers beginning in 2009. Additional innovations included increasedcapacity (4GB and 32GB) micro and standard memory cards that can be inserted from the camcorder into the television like a DVD. Future camcorders and digital cameras from Panasonic will simply be placed atop the HomeBase, their video and picture content wirelessly transmitted to the screen. Panasonic envisions the TV screen ultimately taking up an entire wall in the home. The so-called “Life Wall” could be adjusted by the user’s hand to include virtual pictures, paintings on the wall, a virtual fireplace and a window, while also offering phone functionality. “This will help us unite people around the digital hearth,” Sakamoto said. The company is working with cable provider Comcast Corp., which introduced a portable digital video recorder and DVD player, “AnyPlay,” that allows users to record content and then take the content on the road. The two companies also unveiled an interactive remote control (“tru2way”) based on openstandard technology executives said is being implemented by other cable providers. “We think what we are introducing here today will have a tremendous impact on our industry,” said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast. CLASSIFIED SHOWCASE B R O W S E R D I S P L AY S CO M P U T E R S O F T WA R E USED TAPES & DVDS than music, video games or even box office receipts. “There is a softening in the marketplace, but it’s not as dramatic as the headlines were letting on. And maintaining a $24 billion a year business — that’s huge.” David Bishop, worldwide president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment agreed. “Going into [the fourth quarter], I thought we would be down around 5%, so it beat my expectations,” he said. “The sheer number and strength of titles we had in the fourth quarter is what saved us.” Indeed, Q4 saw virtually all the strong summer theatricals arrive on DVD, with studios no longer saving choice titles for January. December, in particular, was packed with hits, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Simpsons Movie. Studios shipped an estimated 1.6 billion software units to retail in 2007, 2% more than in 2006, according to figures compiled for DEG by Swicker & Associates. That brings the total number of units shipped since DVD’s 1997 launch to nearly 9 billion discs. In Q4 2007 alone, 662 million DVDs shipped to retail. Nielsen VideoScan numbers, released last week, show a 5% decline in DVD units that actually sold through to consumers in 2007. That decline differs from the drop in consumer spending reported by the DEG for several reasons, including the influx of high-priced boxed sets, mostly of complete TV series, which still count as a single unit; the growing tendency among studios to release two or more versions of a hot new theatrical release at the same time, one packed with extras and commanding a higher street price; and a decline in catalog product, which generally tends to sell for a lot less than new releases. Still, studio executives see cause for concern, not just with the decline in spending, however slight, but also because of a 12% drop in the average conversion rate, or DVD sales in relation to box office. The fact that the quarter’s TOP SELLING DVDS OF 2007 TITLE 1 Transformers 2 Happy Feet 3 Pirates…At World’s End 4 300 5 Shrek the Third 6 Ratatouille 7 Harry Potter and the Order … 8 The Departed 9 Night at the Museum 10 The Bourne Ultimatum LABEL UNITS SOLD* Paramount/DW 13.7 Warner 13.5 Disney 13.2 Warner 12.9 Paramount/DW 12.2 Disney 12.0 Warner 10.1 Warner 8.9 Fox 8.7 Universal 7.4 * In millions biggest titles were sequels could be a factor, studio presidents say. “The size of the DVD business this year had a lot more to do with the size of the films being released in theaters,” said Steve Beeks, president of Lionsgate. “Sequels drove box office, and historically sequels don’t convert as well to DVD.” The top-selling DVD, according to Home Media Magazine market research and The Redhill Group, was Paramount/DreamWorks’ Transformers, with 13.7 million units sold (see chart above). The DEG also says 33 million DVD players were sold to U.S. consumers in 2007, about the same as last year, with 12 million players selling in the fourth quarter. That puts the total number of DVD players in U.S. homes at 230 million, counting portable units and televisions with built-in DVD players. The DEG pegs the U.S. household penetration rate at 90%, with 60% of households having more than one DVD player. Counting game consoles, 4.5 million highdefinition media players have been sold to consumers since the first players arrived in 2006. Toshiba shipped its first HD DVD player in April 2006, while the first dedicated Blu-ray players showed up in late June — followed in November by PlayStation 3, with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive. CO M P U T E R S O F T WA R E Gates Touts Microsoft Success in ‘07 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MAKES DOLLARS AND SENSE! Continued from page 6 “We are on track this year in the U.S. to have the biggest year ever in video game history,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment devices division. “We did $3.5 billion in business through November. That’s a billion more than Nintendo did on the Wii. And $2 billion more than Sony did on the PlayStation 3.” He said Xbox Live had passed the 10 million-member mark, six months ahead of projections. Bach said Xbox Live will offer episodic programming from ABC TV and Disney, including High School Musical, “Hannah Montana,” “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives.” In addition, Bach said MGM soon will offer its entire movie catalog as streams on Xbox Live, including the “Rocky” and “Terminator” films, Legally Blonde and The Silence of the Lambs. Bach said Live will offer more than twice the amount of on-demand HD content as is offered by satellite and FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Wohlman (714) 338-6749 kwohlman@questex.com www.homemediamagazine.com cable providers. “It’s quite clear that online distribution is going to be a powerful force in the future of video,” Bach said. He said Samsung Electronics and HewlettPackard will include so-called “extender” devices from Microsoft in their HDTVs for future Web-based connectivity. Microsoft’s Mediaroom technology is bowing DVR Anywhere, which lets consumers record content and distribute it to other TVs connected on the network in the home. Bach said the company is working with Showtime, TNT and CNN to develop customized interactive programming options, including the ability to watch a particular racecar in an event or view the action from the pit area. He said Microsoft will sell the Zune music player for the first time outside the United States in Canada beginning this spring. Updates include Zune Social, a beta-tested interactive community for music fans. 22 Home Media Magazine January 13–19, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.rapidrental.com http://www.foresightvideo.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - January 13-19, 2007

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