Looks Like The Bottom Is Falling Out Of The Dvd Market

[Woochifer]

Looks like someone's trying to clear out some shelf space. Most of those titles in the sale are older titles that just aren't in demand anymore, and some of them (e.g. the Alien titles) have already been replaced by newer expanded editions. They're the same titles that you would typically find in the bargain bins at Best Buy or Wal-Mart. The studios can push (or have already pushed) the price points right back up on a lot of these titles by rereleasing them with additional content or addressing any issues (i.e. 384k DD soundtracks, nonanamorphic video, scant bonus features, etc.) that might have accompanied the original release.

In actuality, the DVD price points on new releases have not gone down at all in the last four years (typical list price for a new release is still around $30). New releases are what move the market because they generate the most sales, and the vast majority of those sales occur within a short time frame after initial release. Once the demand subsides on those titles, then the studios and/or retailers stimulate sales by lowering the prices.

Also, keep in mind that the DVD is now a mature format. People who buy a DVD player for the first time will build a DVD library around their favorite titles, and that was very prevalent in the early years of the format. But, now there aren't a lot of first-time DVD player buyers left, and most people who have favorite DVD titles that have been around for a few years, will likely already own those titles.

I don't think that Blu-ray or HD-DVD are even a blip on the radar yet. There's just a lot of stale product that's been sitting on store shelves and in warehouses. No different than older CD titles that no longer sell in bunches getting allocated to bargain series status. Consumers are no longer ramping up their DVD collections by loading up on older titles, because there just aren't a lot of DVD newbies out there. Rather, consumers are merely augmenting and adding on with new releases.