The numbers for 2008 are in and they don't look good: DVD sales are now showing the first signs that they're about to go into free-fall, just like sales of CDs did a few years ago.
For the second year running, DVD sales have slipped. After hitting a high of $24.1 billion in 2006, the total sales volume hit $21.6 billion in 2008, an overall decline of about 10 percent off the 2006 high.
DVD's purported savior -- Blu-ray -- has been unable to rise to the rescue so far. Blu-ray (and leftover HD DVD) disc sales hit just $750 million last year, which doesn't nearly make up for the loss in sales of DVD media. Since Blu-ray discs are more expensive than DVDs, the overall unit sales decline is even more worrisome for Hollywood -- and some studios are seeing income plummet accordingly. For example, Fox operating income dropped 72 percent last year after seeing DVD sales fall just 15 percent.
Hits aren't going to save the day, either: Warner Bros. had the #1 selling DVD of 2008, The Dark Knight, but saw overall DVD sales drop 24 percent nonetheless. Disney -- running out of "classics from the vault" to reissue -- had a whopping 33 percent drop in DVD sales last year.
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