'DVD future is in rental'

Electronics Times, Sept 6, 1999

Jim Bottoms, MD of Understanding & Solutions, a UK-based technology consultancy, told the DVD Forum Conference 99 in Massachusetts that film rentals are the best hope for the format's development.

DVD films have made the greatest inroads in the US, with a 5% penetration of homes compared with less than 1% in Europe. Part of this is due to availability of titles - 5500 in the US compared with only 600 in Europe.

Bottoms predicts that DVD players will be in 10% of US homes by the end of 2000, increasing to 25% by 2002. Europe is moving at a much slower rate, barely topping 1% next year and reaching 5% only by 2003.

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DVD-rom will reach an installed base of 12 million units in the US and five million units in Europe by the end of 1999, claims Bottoms. Next year, the US installed base will reach 30 million compared with 16 million in Europe.

"We're at a point where it makes sense to develop titles for DVD-rom, now that there's a market out there," Bottoms said.

But he is less bullish about music on DVD. The DVD audio spec was only finalised last year, and players are not expected to appear until the end of this year.

"It won't be the overt phenomenon that DVD video has been," said Bottoms. "Only certain musical genres will drive it.

"Classical music enthusiasts, who were the ones that drove the compact disc adoption when it was first introduced, will likely get on board quickly, because the format lends itself better to classical than, say, the Spice Girls."

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'DVD future is in rental'

Electronics Times, Sept 6, 1999

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