Entertainment Merchant Association 2008 Report Released

 

The EMA (Entertainment Merchant Association) has just released its 2008 report on the home entertainment industry covering the year 2007. The full report is an exhaustive analysis of the industry and is loaded with stats about sale and rental revenue of Blu-ray, DVD, video games, HDTVs, and more.

Among the interesting stats:

Home Video (Blu-ray/DVD)

• The home video market (sales and rentals of DVDs and BDs) accounted for 49% of all consumer movie spending in 2007.  By comparison, cable and satellite TV represents 25% of consumer movie spending, cinema box office represents 23%, and 3% is made up by "on-demand"/"digital download" content.
• Total consumer spending on home video in 2007 was $24.1 billion ($16.5 billion in sales, $8.2 billion in rentals).
• Nearly 9 million high definition discs were sold in 2007, with Blu-ray discs accounting for 67%.  The total revenue for Blu-ray and HD DVD sales in 2007 was $260 million.  This does not include rental revenue.
• The PlayStation 3 is expected to continue driving Blu-ray adoption through 2008, but in 2009, standalone players are expected to begin outpacing the gaming system.
• Projecting ahead to 2012, the EMA estimates spending in the home video market will increase to $25.6 billion.  That same year, Blu-ray disc sales are projected to overtake standard DVD sales.
• Also in 2012, the EMA estimates that 100-130 million homes worldwide will own at least one Blu-ray disc player.

  HDTV

  • 20.7 million HDTV sets were sold in 2007 bringing total household penetration in the U.S. to 34% of U.S. households.
  • Only 44% of HDTV owners actually are watching high definition programming, but an additional 22% believe they are, but in fact, are not.

  Video Games

  • Aproximately 3 million PlayStation 3 systems were in use in the U.S. by the end of 2007.
  • 87% of PlayStation 3 owners reported using their system to playback Blu-ray disc movies.
  • The overall video game market increased 34% (to $8.6 billion) for software and 54% (to $7.04 billion) for hardware.
  • 67% of U.S. households reported playing computer or video games.

  Overall, the home video market is doing well, though due to declining DVD sales, it is declining from previous years.  It is expected to take a few years before the numbers start to rise again as Blu-ray replaces DVD as the primary video format.

  The video game market, on the other hand, is surging ahead and doesn't show any signs of slowing.  If the trend continues, it seems increasingly likely that revenue from video games will overtake home video revenue sometime in the next decade.