Audio Video News

Another DVD hurdle is jumped: 10 million DVD-Video players have now officially shipped to market, according to the DVD Entertainment Group (DVDEG). The announcement was made last week at the annual DVD Forum meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The DVDEG points out that this level of sales has been reached faster than by any other consumer-electronics product in history: just three and a half years after DVD's introduction. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), CD players took seven years to ship 10 million units, and VCRs took eight years to reach this level. The CEA adds that DVD-Video players have doubled their presence in the marketplace since reaching 5% household penetration in December 1999.

Fueling this growth, says the DVDEG, is the "enthusiastic support of movie studios and record labels," which are now releasing more than 250 new DVD-Video titles each month. In response, the DVDEG claims that DVD replicators have increased their capacity by more than 150% for the second half of 2000 over the same period last year, in preparation for anticipated growth throughout the holiday selling season.

The DVD Entertainment Group's Emiel N. Petrone states that "the milestone of shipping 10 million DVD-Video players is regarded as an indicator of mass-market acceptance. We know that shortly we will achieve 10% household penetration—a benchmark of success for any consumer-electronics product."