# DVD Sales May Drop as WM Clears Aisles



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

*"We are seeing an ongoing evolution in digital distribution, which
cannot be positive long-term for the physical formats such as DVD."*

Ever since Toshiba conceded the next-gen DVD war by halting its HD-DVD format,
studios have been counting on a surge in U.S. DVD sales as customers who were
waiting on the sidelines take the high-definition plunge by buying Sony Blu-ray
players and renting more HD films.

Wal-Mart's broom may spell DVD's doom

The studios may be disappointed, however. Retail giant Wal-Mart, which accounts
for 30-40% of U.S. DVD sales, is making less room for the back-catalog DVD titles
that help widen studio profits while more customers either download high-definition
films or order them on-demand from cable companies, according to one analyst.

"While the consumer perception of a DVD's value is likely to be improved by the
elimination of dump bins, studios that have relied heavily on deeply discounted
catalog sales will be negatively impacted in 2008" ...

More @ TVWeek.com


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Anything that eliminates the fire hazards in the aisles at Wal-Mart is a good thing.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Back catalog titles... ones that sit there and collect dust...

I don't think it will have a big impact.... Ultimately movies like that, should move to stores that specialize in that (like Best Buy/CC)... or online retailers that could keep them in warehouses.

Just like book stores.... WalMart could easily setup a kiosk for someone to order older titles, payfor them there... with free shipping somewhere...


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Back catalog titles... ones that sit there and collect dust...
> 
> I don't think it will have a big impact.... Ultimately movies like that, should move to stores that specialize in that (like Best Buy/CC)... or online retailers that could keep them in warehouses.
> 
> Just like book stores.... WalMart could easily setup a kiosk for someone to order older titles, payfor them there... with free shipping somewhere...


Since my wife happens to work for the marketing firm that actually does the DVD, CD, and book product deployment for Walmart nationwide, I can attest that Earl's comments are absolutely correct.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

What they're talking about are the $5.00 dump bins adjacent to Electronics and the discounted shelf racks in the same aisle ($7-$9). In the past, these were huge cash cows, but I would guess that they don't have the same appeal they had a few years ago when they were huge sellers. For the studios, they've made their investment on these older movies, so if they make $1 a copy on them, it's money in the bank. To lose those sales won't make the studios happy.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I've picked up a couple of good titles from the dump bins.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Mark Holtz said:


> I've picked up a couple of good titles from the dump bins.


My last bargain-bin purchase was indeed a good one: $3.99 for "Dave", a great movie with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.


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## Snoofie (May 29, 2003)

I used to buy from the discount bins all the time, but I have so many movies that I will never watch again and many that are still in the plastic. I just don't care about DVD as much as I used to and now I will just do PPV or XBOX Live Marketplace, which has a large collection of older movies, for rentals. That way I won't pay for it until I am ready to actually watch it and not have it collecting dust in the basement.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Snoofie said:


> I used to buy from the discount bins all the time, but I have so many movies that I will never watch again and many that are still in the plastic. I just don't care about DVD as much as I used to and now I will just do PPV or XBOX Live Marketplace, which has a large collection of older movies, for rentals. That way I won't pay for it until I am ready to actually watch it and not have it collecting dust in the basement.


I'm not even certain on the number of titles I have .. well over 400, and I'd wager that at least half are still shrink-wrapped.


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