Home Media Magazine - January 20-26, 2008 - (Page 10) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com HDTV Prices Projected To Drop 15% in 2008 A By Chris Tribbey onsumers who bought an HDTV for the holidays may wish they had waited. According to a forecast by Menlo Park, Calif.’s Pacific Media Associates, flat-panel HDTV prices HD VMD Hosts Party By Chris Tribbey high-def format group is throwing a celebration party. No, Sony and Fox aren’t renting out a club, and Universal and Paramount aren’t taking over a ballroom. You’ll have to be a fan of the little-known HD VMD format for this one. And you’ll have to be in the Netherlands. New Medium Enterprises (NME), creators of HD VMD, which has films from Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions for the C will drop another 15.6% this year, while the worldwide market for the TVs will grow 41%, to 113 million units. “At this time last year, manufacturers were hoping that 2007 would bring some stability to flat-panel HDTV pricing,” said Pacific Media VP Rosemary Abowd. “We estimate that the overall average street price declined 14.7% in 2007. The overall drop is smaller than for some individual market segments, as consumers have moved to larger screen sizes and 1080p resolution sets. These have higher price tags than the models favored in 2006, which has helped keep the average street price higher.” Pacific Media estimates that unit sales grew 86% in 2007 over 2006, down from 89% in 2006 over 2005. “The projected 41% unit growth for 2008 is still a healthy increase, but significantly less than the growth we saw in 2006 and 2007,” Abowd said. format in the United States, will celebrate the opening of its first major HD VMD replication line at replicator VDL-ODMS’ facility in Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. The Jan. 22 event will feature presentations by the CEO of NME, Mahesh Jayanarayan; an audio and video presentation of HD VMD; product exhibits; presentations and tours of the production lines. The event is open to press, industry members, trade groups, distributors and retailers. For more information, call +44208749 9955, or visit www. nmeinc.com. Amazon Temporarily Cuts HD Disc Prices By Chris Tribbey wners of high-def players who are still buying DVDs may be out of excuses for not buying Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD — at least for a limited time at Amazon.com. The online retailer last week offered giant price cuts on both Bluray and HD DVD: 44% to 57% off O 84 HD DVD titles, bringing prices as low as $10.99; and 38% to 60% off 229 Blu-ray titles, bringing prices as low as $13.49. Amazon.com has not shared how long the sale will last. TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS H IG H -D EF SELLER S Week ended January 13, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS HI GH- DE F S E L L E RS Aggregate by Title Week ended January 13, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE The Game Plan H IG H -D E F C O M I NG U P STREETING The Game Plan Blu-ray Disney Street Date: 1/22 Method Man: Live HD DVD HD Entertainment Street Date: 1/22 Saw IV Blu-ray Lionsgate Street Date: 1/22 Damages: Season 1 Blu-ray Sony Pictures Street Date: 1/29 PREBOOKING Into the Wild HD DVD Paramount Pre: 1/22, Street: 3/4 Things We Lost HD DVD Paramount Pre: 1/22, Street: 3/4 30 Days of Night Blu-ray Sony Pictures Pre: 1/24, Street: 2/26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray 300 Blu-ray Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s … Blu-ray Resident Evil: Extinction Blu-ray Blood Diamond Blu-ray Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray War Blu-ray Goodfellas Blu-ray Harry Potter and the Prisoner of … Blu-ray Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Blu-ray Lionsgate Warner Disney Sony Pictures Warner Warner Lionsgate Warner Warner Warner 100.00 28.05 27.38 25.79 23.36 22.30 22.16 21.06 20.84 20.23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray Lionsgate 300 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner Blood Diamond BD; HD DVD Warner Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s … Blu-ray Disney Goodfellas BD; HD DVD Warner Resident Evil: Extinction Blu-ray Sony Pictures Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire BD; HD DVD Warner War Blu-ray Lionsgate Harry Potter and the Order of the … BD; HD DVD Warner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of … BD; HD DVD Warner 100.00 30.55 29.66 27.38 25.94 25.79 23.43 22.16 22.13 21.70 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended January 13, 2008 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF HD DVD Week ended January 13, 2008 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 3:10 to Yuma 300 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Resident Evil: Extinction Blood Diamond Lionsgate Warner Disney Sony Pictures Warner 100.00 28.05 27.38 25.79 23.36 1 2 3 4 5 The Kingdom The Bourne Ultimatum Zodiac: Director’s Cut Blade Runner: Collector’s Edition Blood Diamond Universal Universal Paramount Warner Warner 100.00 92.59 87.36 61.22 60.82 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 10 Home Media Magazine January 20–26, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.nmeinc.com http://www.nmeinc.com http://Amazon.com http://Amazon.com
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