 | DVD VIDEO CONTINUES ON FAST TRACK IN '99 LOS ANGELES - October 5, 1999 - An additional 900,000 DVD Video players were shipped to retail in the third quarter bringing the total year-to-date hardware shipments to 2.2 million according to figures compiled by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA). DVD Video experienced approximately a 225 percent rate of growth in the third quarter 1999 versus the third quarter 1998 -- shipping 600,000 more hardware units than shipped in the third quarter 1998. For the first nine months of 1999, shipments reached 2.2 million units, an increase of 1.6 million units over the same period in 1998, representing a rate of growth of more than 300 percent. CEMA estimates that total players shipped in 1999 will exceed three million units. "The strong consumer demand for DVD Video is unabated," said Emiel N. Petrone, Chairman of the DVD Video Group and Executive Vice President of Philips Entertainment Group, a unit of Philips Electronics. "DVD Video continues to grow in leaps and bounds making it the fastest growing home entertainment product in history." Available to consumers for approximately two-and-a-half years, the DVD Video installed base has already reached three million players. The total installed base is expected to reach nearly four million by year-end. The DVD Video Group includes eight of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers whose products represent more than 95 percent of the players in the market. The DVD Video Group's figures are based on member company shipment numbers and are updated on a regular basis. Software Sales Experience Meteoric Climb The figures were compiled by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, LLP and is part of a series of research projects conducted for the DVD Video Group. The DVD Video Group software member companies provided the requested information directly to Ernst & Young, LLP, who compiled the data. The participating companies account for more than 90 percent of the North American DVD Video software market. "Clearly, DVD Video is exceeding all our expectations," said Paul Culberg, President, DVD Video Group and Executive Vice President - Worldwide, Columbia TriStar Home Video. "Consumers know a good product when they see it and consumers want DVD." Disc sales are expected to remain strong throughout the year, as witnessed by the more than 200 new titles being released each month. Currently, there are more than 4,000 titles available and the DVD Video Group projects that by the end of 1999 there will be nearly 5,000 available for rental and sell through. The DVD Video Group is a Los Angeles-based, industry-funded, nonprofit corporation that exists expressly to promote consumer awareness of the benefits of DVD Video and to provide updated information to the media and the retail trade about DVD Video players, movies and music videos. Regular members of the DVD Video Group are Artisan Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Home Video, DreamWorks Home Entertainment, Image Entertainment, MGM Home Entertainment, New Line Home Video, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company, Paramount Home Video, Philips Consumer Electronics Company, Pioneer Electronics (USA), Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Music/Sony Wonder, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Toshiba America Consumer Products, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, U.S.A. Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and Yamaha Electronics Corporation. Associate members are Alpha Enterprises, Americ Disc, Cinram, CMC Magnetics, Crest National, Crush Digital, CVC, Disc Graphics, JVC Disc America, Nimbus CD International, Panasonic Disc Services Corporation, Pioneer Video Manufacturing, Sony Disc Manufacturing, Sony Pictures DVD Center, Technicolor and Warner Media Services. Consumers can reach the DVD Video Group at (310) 967-2940 or through its web site at www.dvdvideogroup.com. Ernst & Young, LLP is one of the largest worldwide professional services firms, with over 85,000 people in 675 cities based in 132 countries, including over 30,000 people in 87 U.S. cities.
# # # |