Chapter 1

14 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About DVD
The following sites help you find the lowest prices and discount
coupons:
• BargainFlix (www.bargainflix.com)
• DVD Price Search (www.dvdpricesearch.com)
How Are DVDs Doing? Where Can I Get Statistics?
DVD did not take off quite as fast as some early predictions, but it has sold
faster than videotape, CD, and laserdisc. In fact, before its third birthday in
March 2000, DVD had become the most successful consumer electronics
entertainment product ever.
Here are some predictions:
• InfoTech (1995) Worldwide sales of DVD players in 1997 will be
800,000. Worldwide sales of DVD-ROM drives in 1997 will be 1.2 million,
with sales of 39 million drives in 2000.
• C-Cube (1996) 1 million players and drives in 1997.
• InfoTech (1996) 820,000 DVD-Video players in the first year, with 80
million by 2005.
• Philips (1996) 25 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide by 2000 (10
percent of the projected 250 million optical drives).
• Pioneer (1996) 500,000 DVD-ROM drives sold in 1997, with 54 million
sold in 2000.
• Pioneer (1996) 400,000 DVD-Video players in 1996, with 11 million
by 2000, and 100,000 DVD-Audio players in 1996, with 4 million by
2000.
• Time Warner (1996) 10 million DVD players in the United States by
2002.
• Toshiba (1996) 100,000 to 150,000 DVD-Video players will be sold in
Japan between November 1 and December 31, 1996, and 750,000 to
1 million by November 1, 1997. (The actual count of combined shipments
by Matsushita, Pioneer, and Toshiba was 70,000 in October
through December of 1996.) The total worldwide DVD hardware market
is expected to reach 120 million units in the year 2000. The worldwide
set-top DVD player market will be 2 million units in the first year,
with sales of 20 million in the year 2000.