SCREEN DIGEST: DVD POISED TO TAKE OVER FROM VHS IN THE HOME VIDEO MARKET

JUL 28, 2000, M2 Communications - The uptake of DVD is growing at an exponential rate that will see DVD hardware in 30% of households across Europe in less than three years, says a report published today by Screen Digest. Despite almost all current and imminent DVD hardware being players not recorders, the rate of adoption is far faster than for VCR (which can play and record). By the end of 2003 - after just six years on the market - the number of DVD households will have reached levels that it took the VCR 10 years to achieve.

The new in-depth report from Screen Digest examines what the next three years hold in store for consumers and companies in this swiftly changing market. By 2003, total consumer spending on video titles in Western Europe will have grown by over a third of the 1999 market value - a rise of $2.3bn (Euro 1.9bn) - with the spend on DVD titles predicted to overtake spending on VHS (despite the fact that less than a third of households will have the hardware). The research shows DVD spend rising from $470m (Euro 420m) in 1999 to $5.8bn (Euro 5.3bn) in 2003; VHS spend falling from $6.1bn (Euro 5.7bn) in 1999 to $3.0bn (Euro 2.8bn) in 2003.

DVD VIDEO PLAYERS

Screen Digest estimates that by the end of 1999, there were 1.5 million DVD Video players in Western Europe. This figure is set to more than treble in size - rising, by the end of 2000, to 5.4 million homes with at least one TV-based machine capable of playing DVD Videos. This is still a relatively low proportion of the total market (3.5% of TV households) but by the end of 2003 it is predicted that over 47 million households across Europe (almost 30%) will have some form of DVD player hooked up to their TV set.

Whilst France still tops the league for the number of players already installed (360,000) in 1999, the UK was the fastest growing market with a rise of almost 1000% from 27,000 machines in 1998 to 280,000 in 1999. The report points to aggressive hardware price erosion, as a key factor fuelling growth - especially in the UK, where the price of many models had fallen to below GBP200 by Christmas 1999.

In addition to dedicated DVD Video players, the next generation of games consoles (such as Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 2) will add to the number of households able to play DVD Videos through their TVs. Even allowing for a proportion of households having both a DVD-enabled console and a dedicated DVD Video player, Screen Digest predicts that 30% of European households will have some form of DVD machine connected to a TV by the end of 2003 - over 47 million households.

About Screen Digest

Screen Digest is the international media business's leading news and research journal, read by senior executives in over 40 countries. Since 1971, it has built up an unrivalled database of reference material and statistics relating to all forms of screen entertainment and digital media.

Screen Digest has recently published business reports on the interactive leisure software market and the growth of sport on the internet. Other new, business reports due to be published this summer by Screen Digest, include: E-cinema and Broadband Internet. Each of these new reports will contain new statistics and full analysis of the global market.

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