Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008 - (Page 28)

NEWS HD Formats Making Slower Gains Abroad Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com in 2007 in Europe, the future of high-def still faces the same challenge it faces in the United States: competition with DVD. Total DVD sales in the United Kingdom in 2007 were 250 million, according to the British Video Association. And that was a gain of 29 million units France Germany Italy Spain U.K. from 2006. Another reason that high-def still I BY THE NUMBERS TOP FIVE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES* High-Def players, Western European PS3 Western European shipments are as has a long way to go in Europe and shipments are as follows: follows: most of the rest of the world is the 2007: 160,000 (year end estimate) 2007: 2.36 million lack of other high-def content. 2008: 668,000 (projected) 2008: 5.37 million “Compared with the U.S., there’s a *France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK Source: Understanding & Solutions lack of HD broadcasting in Europe, which can impede uptake and unbig high-def push in North America The European HD DVD Promo- derstanding of HD,” Bottoms said. is nowhere to be seen in Europe. tional Group claims a 60% share “BD sales dominated in Europe … in the standalone high-def player Outside Europe thanks to PS3,” said Jim Bottoms market share for the region, and In Japan, the format making the with research firm Understanding & boasts that HD DVD owners buy most waves is Blu-ray. A recent Solutions. “HD DVD did have some nearly four times as many movies study of more than 2,300 retailearlier success in gaining support as Blu-ray owners. ers across Japan found that Blu-ray among the local independents, who HD DVD’s biggest win in Europe recorders accounted for 90% of all are important in Europe, on the is standalone hardware sales, with a HD recorder sales in a three-month basis of lower disc manufacturing total of 15,000, according to Under- period, and at last count, data from costs. Although during the course of standing and Solutions. Addition- research firm GfK Japan showed 2007, many of these content compa- ally, more than 40,000 HD DVD roughly a 9-to-1 sales lead for Blunies either changed to BD or added add-ons for the Xbox 360 were sold ray over HD DVD for both hardware BD to their lineup.” there, according to Screen Digest. and software. Sony says it has sold Just as in the United States, includYet Understanding & Solutions’ more than 1.3 million Blu-ray playing the PS3 in tabulating Blu-ray num- data shows that Blu-ray has a 3-to- ers in Japan. bers has given that format a leg-up in 1 software sales advantage for the “I don’t know that there is one terms of the high-def installed con- year, with Blu-ray passing the 1 mil- specific reason we can point to,” sumer base in Europe. The PS3 sold at lion mark in November for discs Parsons said of Blu-ray’s Japanese least 750,000 units for the year. sold mark in Europe. success. “It’s probably a combinaBut as it has in the United States, Consumer purchases are based on tion of hardware and software brand HD DVD’s lower standalone player content, Bottoms said, and Blu-ray strength and the perception that Bluprice has kept it in the game. has more to offer there. ray’s technology is more advanced.” “Toshiba is still competing on HD DVD took a hit in the European Still, the battle is just getting startprice, lowering hardware prices even market Jan. 28, however, with news ed in much of the rest of Asia. further,” Bottoms said. “However, that British retailer Woolworths In China, despite swearing a couthey are now repositioning their would no longer carry the format ple of years ago that it would try high-def players to emphasize the in its 820 stores starting in March, starting its own high-def format, upscaling capabilities when viewing selling HD DVD online only. the Enhanced Versatile Disc, China standard-def DVD.” Yet for all the gains high-def made has been working with both Blu-ray and HD DVD. The DVD Forum announced last summer that it had reached an agreement with China to create an HD DVD format for the country, and in September, China High Definition was unveiled. The Chinese-exclusive players are expected later this year. The Blu-ray Disc Association confirmed in October that it was working with Chinese manufacturers to determine if Chinese-specific audio and video codecs could be included in Blu-ray players for the country. It’s still too early to tell if either HD DVD or Blu-ray has won in Australia, mostly because high-def is just too small an industry there, according to Simon Bush, CEO of the Australian Visual Software Distributors Association. According to sales data from GfK Australia, more than 100,000 PS3s are in Australian households, with about 3,000 standalone Blu-ray players sold. Including the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, just more than 3,000 HD DVD players have left stores, the research firm reported. That’s caused most of the 870 stores run by Video Ezy — which also runs Blockbuster Australia and is the largest chain in the nation — to go Blu-ray exclusive. According to software figures from GfK, more than 100,000 Blu-ray movies had been sold, while HD DVD had sold less than 20,000. HD DVD and Blu-ray have been mostly silent in poorer countries, giving U.K. start-up New Media Enterprises Inc. an opportunity to launch its HD VMD format first in China and India, and then Eastern Europe. “2008 should see improvement due to clarification of the U.S. position,” Bottoms said. studio alignment, since this is where a lot of highly valued content comes from.” It’s not that other markets are unimportant. While high-def barely registers in most of Africa and the Middle East, areas such as Asia and Australia are being watched closely. Outside of North America, nowhere is high-def more important to the industry than in Europe. Blu-ray moving ahead in Europe Standalone high-def players didn’t come to Europe in force until the beginning of 2007, and Blu-ray’s biggest advantage, the PlayStation 3, didn’t land until last March. “Consumer electronics manufacturers tend to launch products later in Europe than in the U.S.,” Cooper said. “High-def hardware habitually costs around twice as much in Europe as the equivalent machine in the U.S.” But in just a short time, the region, especially Western Europe, has become a significant battleground for the hearts and minds of high-def consumers. “Both [sides] have been running TV and magazine marketing campaigns alongside software bundling deals like those in the U.S.,” Cooper said. “HD DVD had been active in courting European studios, ensuring that European product would be available on the format.” Both sides have also done well in highlighting the advantages of moving to high-def in general, Cooper added, although the interactivity and Internet connectivity that’s been a LATE F L ASHES I ANALYST: SLOW ECONOMY HELPS BLOCKBUSTER Concerns about the economy could benefit home video rental services, including Blockbuster Inc., said Arvind Bhatia, media analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach in Dallas. Speaking online at WallSt.net, Bhatia said Dallas-based Blockbuster could benefit in a weakening economy as consumers increasingly opt to stay home for their entertainment needs. “Home video rentals are a cheap form of home entertainment versus going to a movie theater that would be a $50-to-$75 cost for a family,” he said. – Erik Gruenwedel ‘Hollywood’ Starz and 24% believe all analog TVs will have to be discarded. – Erik Gruenwedel I REPORT: CONFUSION REIGNS ABOUT DIGITAL TV With little more than a year remaining before TV broadcasters switch from analog to digital transmissions Feb. 19, 2009, a new study found that 74% of consumers remain confused about their options, while 61% are completely unaware of the pending transfer. The study, compiled in a telephone survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center, found that 58% of respondents aware of the transition believe all TVs, including digital, will require a digital converter box. Another 48% believe only digital TVs will work in 2009 I NETFLIX MOVES Netflix Inc.’s board approved a $100 million repurchase of common shares. Also, Netflix has partnered with the Independent Film Channel to produce a special 50th episode of actor-director Jon Favreau’s “Dinner for Five” cable series. It airs Feb. 1 on IFC and streams on Netflix. com beginning Feb. 4. – Erik Gruenwedel Correction: Andy Parsons is SVP, product planning, home entertainment Group, at Pioneer (not Panasonic) Electronics. He is also chair of the Bluray Disc Association’s U.S. promotion committee. Starz Entertainment hosted a premiere party for its new original comedy series “Hollywood Residential” at the Sky Bar in Los Angeles. (L-R): Stephan Shelanski of Starz; actors David Ramsey, Lindsey Stoddart and Adam Paul; series executive producers Cheryl Hines and Paul Young; Robert Markovich and Michael Ruggiero of Starz; and series executive producer Peter Principato. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published weekly 51 times per year (weekly except for one week at the end of December) by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). Add $75 annually for air-expedited service. Single copies (prepaid only): $6.99 in the United States, $8.99 in Canada and Mexico, $13.99 all other countries. Back issues, if available: $9.99 in the U.S.; $15.99 in Canada and Mexico; $26.99 for all other countries. Include $6.50 per order plus $2 per additional copy for U.S. postage and handling. Periodicals postage paid at Duluth MN 55806 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 5064, Brentwood, TN 37024-5064. 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Contents News Commentary Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008

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