Consumers Spent $22.8 Bln on DVDs in 2005

Figures from the Digital Entertainment Group show consumers spent $22.8 billion buying and renting DVDs in 2005, and DVD players are in an estimated 82 million homes.

Figures released today by the Digital Entertainment Group purport U.S. consumers spent $22.8 billion dollars buying and renting DVDs during 2005, an increase of roughly 8 percent over 2004. DVD sales accounted for $16.3 billion (representing a 5 percent increase in revenue with a 10 percent increase in units sold compared to 2004), while consumers spend another $6.5 billion renting DVDs, an increase of 14 percent over 2004.

It’s enough to make one wonder how people find all the time to watch.

Not surprisingly, the DEG found that VHS sales and rentals for 2005 were both much smaller than DVD sales and relatively flat, with VHS rentals and sales accounting for only $1.5 billion in revenue for 2005.

The DEG also says data from the Consumer Electronics Association, as well as retailers and manufacturers, indicates U.S. consumers purchased some 37 million DVD players in 2005, with nearly 17 million selling in the fourth quarter.

Since launch in 1997, more than 164 million DVD players have been sold, including set-top players, portable systems, home theaters, and combo units, bringing the number of U.S. households estimates to have a DVD player to 82 million. Adjusting for computers and DVD-enabled gaming consoles, the total number of U.S. households estimated to have the capability to play DVD media is 89 million, or more than 80 percent of U.S. TV households. According to data from ICR Centris, less than 20 million of these households rely solely on a traditional set-top box on a living room TV: over 80 percent of DVD-capable households have multiple players or alternative DVD devices.

The DEG is a trade group which advocates and promotes DVD technology; its members increase a wide variety of studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, music distributors, and investors.