Audio Video News

According to a new report from market research company Cahners In-Stat Group, DVD sales will reach new heights over the next several years. Cahners points out that the DVD market has grown from nothing in 1996 to more than 28 million units expected to ship worldwide in 2001, and it estimates that sales will exceed 60 million units in 2004.

The research suggests predicts that the growth of DVD-Audio, component integration leading to lower prices, and new products incorporating DVD technology such as TV/DVDs and DVD mini systems, all point to a 48% increase in US shipments in 2001 alone. In addition, DVD recorders using the DVD-RW and DVD+RW formats will finally make their bow in the US and Europe. Cahner's Michelle Abraham adds that "price will be the determining factor in unit shipments. Though recorders will be available for less than $1000 by the end of 2001, unit shipments will not reach the millions until prices fall below $500."

Other prognostications: In 2004, DVD player sales in the United States will equal the number of VCRs sold today; by 2004, an average DVD player bill of materials will fall below $90; though twice as many DVD players were sold in the United States as in Europe last year, by 2004, the European market will be roughly 80% of the US market.

Another new report from research companies MindBranch and Multimedia Research Group opined that by the year 2004 the growth of STBs (Set-Top Boxes) alone will exceed $11.5 billion in annual sales, while the growth of related digital services such as Electronic Program Guides (EPG), Video-on-Demand (VOD), Interactive TV (ITV), and Enhanced TV (ETV) should exceed $11 billion annually. The researchers say that this will result in combined revenues of $54 billion for the digital services industry by the year 2004.

MRG's Chris Schwafel explains that "today's advanced PC and communications technologies, combined with open STB architectures, have created an industry that shifts power into the hands of the consumer. STBs will become more like cell phones insofar as they can come in a variety of flavors, configurations, and prices. They can satisfy the increasing demand for more personalized, customized services."