2008 DVD Sales Figures Show Decline

It seems sales of both DVDs and Blu-ray discs didn't do as well as expected as 2008 came to a close.

According to Variety, "The biz, which had hoped for a turnaround by the end of 2008, is instead headed to the tech confab on a down note. Final year-end results won't start to trickle in for a few more days, but there's little doubt that homevid spending ended down for the year. The vid biz is famously squishy about its sales figures, but all indicators point to a second consecutive decline, with Blu-ray gains unable to make up for declining DVD sales throughout the year."

The figures show that DVD sales declined 5-6 percent behind 2007 while Blu-ray sales jumped, making up a few percentage points of the DVD deficit.

The Variety article explains even more data, "Overall 2008 disc sales are expected to end 3%-4% below 2007's $15.38 billion tally when the last disc sales for 2008 are calculated. Total consumer spending on discs, rental included, should top $20 billion, as it has every year since 2002, however, that number is also projected to be down several percentage points from 2007's $22.9 billion tally. Rentals were trending flat; downloads are not yet a meaningful part of the equation."

Even by Thanksgiving, the holiday sales seemed unlikely to boost a tough third quarter retail climate. Yet, in the end, despite the decline, other sectors weren't aided by holiday spending either such as MasterCard's Spending Pulse and the Air Transport Association.

The Variety article does mention some positive aspects of the figures, "A full contingent of homevid execs is expected at the confab this year, where they will once again sing Blu-ray's praises. Although the format is not taking off as quickly as studios once hoped, holiday sales gave them cause for optimism. 'The Dark Knight,' the year's biggest seller on DVD, set an impressive benchmark for the next-gen format, selling 1.7 million copies worldwide in its first week. 'Iron Man' also posted especially strong Blu-ray sales during the holiday shopping season. . . . As of Dec. 21, 22 million Blu-ray units had sold, a research report indicates; last year, 5.3 million units were sold. The format was closing in on the $750 million-$800 million target projected by several studios at a November DEG event. . . . At the same session, execs predicted that it would take a least another year or two before Blu-ray begins to offset DVD declines."