Online DVD rentals seen surging worldwide
Online DVD rentals in the US and especially in Europe are surging. In England, online rentals are expected to snag 60% of the market share by 2009, 5 times the current 12% share.
From Reuters:
Market research firm Screen Digest said on Tuesday that by the end of 2005, 6.3 million subscribers will have spent more than $1 billion renting DVDs over the Internet, with the market seen tripling to almost $3 billion in four years despite the growing threat of video-on-demand services.
“Our cash-rich, time-poor society values convenience very highly, and is willing to pay for it,” Screen Digest analyst Angus Wood said.
This comes to no big surprise to those of us who have been paying attention. No news as to whether Netflix will really hit 20,000,000 subscribers before the decade’s out.