Audio Video News

From its inception six years ago, the format has surged like nothing the electronics and entertainment industries have ever seen before. In late October, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) announced that nearly one billion DVDs have been shipped to dealers so far this year, bringing the total number shipped to approximately 3.3 billion since the format's launch.

Approximately 340 million DVDs were shipped in the third quarter of 2004, a 59% increase over the same period the previous year. By comparison, and to show how popular DVD has become, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently announced that 270.2 million music CDs were shipped in the US in the first six months of 2004. More than 63 million US homes now have DVD players, according to statistics compiled for the DEG by research firm Kaplan, Swicker & Simha.

Nearly 6.6 million new DVD players were purchased in the US in the third quarter of this year, bringing the total sold to almost 110 million since the dawn of DVD. Roughly 42% of all US households have two or more DVD players, researchers found. "DVD remains the principal driver by bringing the benefits of high quality video and audio to the widest possible audience," said DEG vice president Mike Fidler, who is also senior vice president of Sony's home products division.

There are now almost 38,000 titles available on DVD, according to the report. Electronics manufacturers and movie studios are looking forward to a strong winter holiday sales season.