DIGISTOR's Blu-ray & DVD Industry Trends

This Industry Trends section is a compilation of latest optical storage and optical media industry trends and developments compiled by DIGISTOR for the benefit of partners and consumers alike.

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• » December 2009 Industry Trends

  • › First Blu-ray Discs Featuring Managed Copy Released

    • Despite a delay in the launch of Managed Copy until March 31, 2010 by AACS-LA, independent labels are among the first to offer discs authorizing the feature on the original due date. Scenic Labs began shipping the first three in their series of BluScenes 1080p scenery on Blu-ray disc. Each disc offers a choice of 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, as well as visual content acquired in 1080p or better native resolution. A disc ready for managed copy will essentially include a link on it directing the Blu-ray player to an authentication server. Once a users chooses the option to make a copy, the Blu-ray player connects online to an authorization server. Discs are serialized, and the authentication server will determine if a copy is allowed. Managed copies will be able to be burned to recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive, on a memory stick, SD card or as a bound copy, such as a digital copy file on the disc, though AACS-LA can approve other methods going forward. Read more First Blu-ray Discs Featuring Managed Copy Released

  • › Blu-ray Disc Association Announces Final 3D Specification

    • The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced the finalization and release of the "Blu-ray 3DTM" specification. Blu-ray 3DTM is expected to reach consumers in 2010. The specification, which represents the work of the leading Hollywood studios and consumer electronic and computer manufacturers, will enable the home entertainment industry to bring the 3D experience into consumers? living rooms on Blu-ray Disc, the most capable high definition home entertainment platform. "Throughout this year, movie goers have shown an overwhelming preference for 3D when presented with the option to see a theatrical release in either 3D or 2D," said Victor Matsuda, chairman, BDA Global Promotions Committee. "We believe this demand for 3D content will carry over into the home now that we have, in Blu-ray Disc, a medium that can deliver a quality Full HD 3D experience to the living ro. Read more Blu-ray Disc Association Announces Final 3D Specification
• » November 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Panasonic develops “Advanced Disc for Archive” (ADA) technology

    • Panasonic has developed the "Advanced Disc for Archive" (ADA) optical disc with a cassette-type shell case aimed at archiving data of pictures in the medical field. The storage medium is based on Panasonic’s Blu-ray Disc technology and is thus the successor for DVD-RAM with cartridge. The ADA utilizes Blue-violet laser with shorter wave length and can thus offer a high capacity of up to 50GB. Read more Panasonic develops “Advanced Disc for Archive” (ADA) technology. Read more Panasonic develops “Advanced Disc for Archive” (ADA) technology
• » October 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Blu-Ray Software sales up by 83%

    • Consumer spending for the third quarter of 2009 in DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution was down by 3.2 percent compared to the same period last year, although Blu-ray Disc software sales continue to show a growth with overall sales up 83 percent for the year. The Digital Entertainment Group released third quarter U.S. sales figures for the home entertainment industry today. Consumer spending for the third quarter of 2009 in the home entertainment window for pre-recorded entertainment, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution, was off slightly at $4 billion, down by 3.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Blu-ray Disc software sales continue to show dramatic growth with overall sales up 83 percent for the year and playback devices in 11.7 million U.S. households. Read more Blu-Ray Software sales up by 83%. Read more Blu-Ray Software sales up by 83%
• » July 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Blu-ray Defies Recession to Lead the Home Entertainment Market at Half Year Mark

    • New figures on the home entertainment market released by the British Video Association using data from the Official Charts Company reveal that Blu-ray Disc sales continue to rise despite the recession biting the sector as a whole in the first half of the year. More than 3.1 million Blu- ray Discs have sold in 2009 to date, a rise of 231 per cent on the same period last year. Read more Blu-ray Defies Recession to Lead the Home Entertainment Market at Half Year Mark

  • › Consumer electronics market looks up - but low prices prevent true recovery

    • Although the global consumer electronics market returned to sequential revenue growth in the second quarter, the industry this year will not achieve an annual expansion that would signal a true recovery, according to iSuppli Corp.

      Global consumer-electronics equipment revenue rose to $71.1 billion in the second quarter, up 4.2 percent from $68.3 billion in the first quarter, based on a preliminary estimate from iSuppli. This represents a major improvement from the first quarter, when revenue fell by 25.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. While consumer-electronics revenue typically declines on a sequential basis in the first quarter following the fourth-quarter holiday selling season, this represented a particularly sharp decline. Read more on Consumer electronics market looks up - but low prices prevent true recovery
• » June 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Blu-ray Managed Copy coming next year

    • Allowing consumers to make one copy of their Blu-ray discs will be required for all discs beginning in the first quarter of next year if a new licensing agreement becomes official. The mandate is part of an agreement by a consortium of studios, manufacturers and other tech companies called the Advanced Access Content System License Administrator, Video Business reports. Studios have until December 4 to sign the agreement. Read More about Blu-ray Managed Copy coming next year.

  • › Worldwide PC shipments on pace for 6 percent decline in 2009

    • Worldwide PC shipments are on pace to reach 274 million units in 2009, a 6 percent decline from 2008 shipments of 292 million, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. Gartner now expects the PC market to post positive growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, setting the stage for a healthy market recovery in 2010 with units forecast to grow 10.3 percent.

      Gartner's latest forecast is somewhat brighter than its preliminary forecast from mid-May, which anticipated a 6.6 percent unit decline in 2009, and considerably stronger than its last detailed forecast from March, which projected a 9.2 percent unit decline. However, analysts urged caution and said that while the market appears to be strengthening, it is still premature to say that the worst is over and the market is recovering. Read more about Worldwide PC shipments on pace for 6 percent decline in 2009
• » May 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Netbooks penetrate 20% of NB PC market in Q1

    • About six million netbooks (mini-note PCs) were shipped in the first quarter, raising their penetration in the notebook PC market close to 20%, according to preliminary data from DisplaySearch, a display market researcher and consultant. Read more about Netbooks penetrate 20% of NB PC market in Q1

  • › Companies work to bring 3D to Blu-ray

    • A recently released report indicates the Blu-ray Disc Association is now looking to integrate 3D viewing technology into the official Blu-ray standard to help generate new consumer interest.

      "Blu-ray Disc is the ideal platform for bringing 3D technology to mainstream home entertainment,” according to a statement issued from the BDA. “The format has been widely embraced by consumers, and the 1080p picture quality and overall experience have become the standards against which all other high-definition delivery platforms are measured." Read more about Companies work to bring 3D to Blu-ray

  • › Industry Transition to Slimline SATA Technology

    • Optical drive manufacturers have been actively discontinuing production of 12.7mm notebook-sized PATA/IDE hardware. To replace these products, they’ve started producing and shipping native Slimline SATA optical drives. Read more about Industry Transition to Slimline SATA Technology

  • › Panasonic Talks Blu-ray

    • CDRinfo had the chance to talk with Mr. Hiroyuki Hasegawa, General manager of Technology Group, Media Business Unit, Device Business Group, at Panasonic Corp's AVC Networks Company and actually the man in charge of optical media engineering in Panasonic Japan. Mr. Hasegawa talked about the archival potential of Blu-ray discs, provided in formation about Panasonic's new BD-R SL (25GB) and DL (50GB) discs, commented on the possible success of the new LTH (Low-To-High) BD-R discs and finally expressed its belief that the Blu-ray disc format can be a future-proof successor of the DVD.

      Global shipments of HD-capable equipment in these categories will rise to 202 million units by 2012, up from 68.9 million in 2008. By 2012, 52.9 percent of STBs, camcorders, DVD players and game consoles shipped will be HD-capable, up from 21.6 percent in 2008. Read more about Panasonic Talks Blu-ray
• » March 2009 Industry Trends

  • › High-Definition consumer electronics shipments to triple by 2012

    • Global shipments of High-Definition (HD) Set-Top Boxes (STBs), camcorders, DVD players and video-game consoles are expected to triple from 2008 to 2012, as HD becomes the ubiquitous video standard worldwide, according to iSuppli Corp.

      Global shipments of HD-capable equipment in these categories will rise to 202 million units by 2012, up from 68.9 million in 2008. By 2012, 52.9 percent of STBs, camcorders, DVD players and game consoles shipped will be HD-capable, up from 21.6 percent in 2008. Read more about High-Definition consumer electronics shipments to triple by 2012

  • › Panasonic, Philips and Sony to Establish One Stop Shop Product License for Blu-ray Disc

    • Panasonic, Philips and Sony are currently working with other Blu-ray Disc patent holders to establish a one-stop-shop license for Blu-ray Disc products.

      This license, which covers essential patents for Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD, will be introduced in the middle of this year. The license program will be offered by a new independent licensing company that will be based in the United States with branch offices in Asia, Europe and Latin America. The CEO of the new license company will be Mr. Gerald Rosenthal, former head of IP at IBM and more recently CEO of Open Invention Network. Read More about Panasonic, Philips and Sony to Establish One Stop Shop Product License for Blu-ray Disc

  • › Credit crisis impacts PC market in Q4

    • The credit crisis came home to roost for the global PC market in the fourth quarter of 2008, ending a sustained period when sales seemed to defy economic gravity, according to iSuppli Corp.

      "Although consumers around the world started to feel the full impact of the credit crisis in the third quarter of 2008, this phenomenon didn't negatively impact PC sales," observed Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms at iSuppli. Read More about Credit crisis impacts PC market in Q4
• » February 2009 Industry Trends

  • › Report: Blu-ray to dominate within 10 years

    • The future of Blu-ray remains very confusing, as some analysts have predicted the format will have a hard time surving past 2012, which is a mere three years away. Other analysts predict Blu-ray to eventually topple DVD, but at the cost of several more years and millions in advertising from Sony and other Blu-ray supporters.

      It's no wonder many people still aren't sure what's happening -- especially since Blu-ray had a rough 2008 -- but another published study indicates Blu-ray will have its time in the spotlight, but not any time soon. In 2008, DVDs still dominate the market with 97.1 percent of the market, but it will begin to continually lose market share to the high-definition Blu-ray format as the years pass. Read more about Report: Blu-ray to dominate within 10 years

  • › Panasonic opens 3D Blu-ray lab

    • Japanese tech giant Panasonic publicly announced its new 3D research labs located in Hollywood. The laboratory is now ready for researchers to continue working on a new 3D format that is expected to be ready soon.

      The company first talked about the laboratory last month during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Panasonic will use the facilities to help create a 3D FUll HD (3D FHD) Blu-ray format while working with Hollywood movie studios. Read more about Panasonic opens 3D Blu-ray lab

  • › Blu-ray Disc Sales to Exceed 100M Units This Year

    • Research from Futuresource Consulting reveals that consumers are on target to buy in excess of 100 million Blu-ray discs (BD) across the USA, Western Europe and Japan this year.

      Sales of High Definition capable LCD and plasma TVs and continued dramatic reductions in BD player prices continuing to fuel interest in packaged HD content despite the economic downturn, the research says. Read more about Blu-ray Disc Sales to Exceed 100M Units This Year
• » January 2009 Industry Trends

  • › CES: Future of Blu-ray optimistic, analysts say

    • The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) each year has a handful of different technologies that stand out to attendees, and Blu-ray has been one of those technologies for two years now. The struggling format has had an up and down battle since becoming the lone HD format in early 2008.

      During the Blu-ray Disc Association's press conference at CES, there are now 1,100 Blu-ray movies available, with 24 million total discs sold last year -- just 5.67 million were sold in 2007. Read more about CES: Future of Blu-ray optimistic, analysts say

  • › Blu-ray up, DVD down in 2008

    • While optical media struggled as a whole, the Blu-ray disc format enjoyed a healthy 2008.

      Spending on Blu-ray sales and rentals nearly tripled over the last year, growing from $270 million in 2007 to $750 million last year, according to data from the Digital Entertainment Group. Rentals and sales of DVD and VHS/UMD declined during the same annual period, with DVD hitting its lowest numbers since 2004. Read more about Blu-ray up, DVD down in 2008

  • › BDA: Blu-ray Disc Displays Strong Growth Prospects Despite Economic Downturn

    • The U.S. economy is experiencing some of the most challenging economic conditions in living memory. Despite this many analysts predicted that the format's growth will help the home entertainment industry to maintain revenues over coming years, at Wednesday's Blu-ray Disc Assn. press conference during the CES.

      Last year DVD revenue in the U.S. declined by eight per cent but a new research report entitled "The State of Home Video" released by SNL Kagan projects that it?s only a matter of time before Blu-ray begins to compensate for these declining returns from traditional technologies, creating incremental strengthening of home entertainment revenues over the next several years. Read more about BDA: Blu-ray Disc Displays Strong Growth Prospects Despite Economic Downturn

  • › Dolby to Bring 3-D Video to Blu-ray

    • Dolby Laboratories is proposing a 3-D video technology for the Blu-ray movies, joining the corresponding proposals of Philips and Panasonic in one of the most buzzed-about areas in video.

      Dolby, a company best known for its audio technology, said that it is talking with content providers about encoding its digital 3-D technology into Blu-ray movies.Read more about Dolby to Bring 3-D Video to Blu-ray