DVD on fast forward in market takeover

By KATHERINE HOBY consumer reporter

DVD is poised to take over from video as New Zealand's preferred method of home movie viewing.

Cheap players, the desire to have the latest toy, and added extras it offers are pushing DVD sales skywards. And industry sources say the technology is well on the way to toppling video quickly.

This week sees the release of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on VHS and DVD.

Retailers and distributors the Weekend Herald spoke to say that demand for DVD versions of the film equals or exceeds that for the video.

United Video purchasing manager Vikki Christiansen says its stores have noticed an increased demand for DVD. Rental percentages for most stores are 70-30 in favour of video, but Ms Christiansen says some outlets, particularly those in urban centres, want more DVD.

"Our DVD purchasing has definitely increased, while video has stayed static," she said.

"Kiwis are jumping on the DVD train bigtime.

"I think the DVD takeover might happen quite quickly now."

Bill Hood, the secretary of the Video Association of New Zealand, says that while the VHS system has been excellent since the late 1970s, "it is a bit of a dinosaur now".

Benefits of DVD included better picture and sound quality, ease of storage and extras such as bonus footage, subtitling options, interviews with stars or directors, alternative endings, music videos, and deleted scenes from the movie.

He cited the example of Gladiator, the 2000 epic starring New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe.

The DVD came with two discs, one of which detailed the history of gladiators.

"I watched it before the film and it improved my enjoyment of it."

Mr Hood said New Zealanders were always keen to embrace new ideas and concepts and often wanted to own the latest toy.

The revenue from DVDs sent to retailers and rental outlets rose 181 per cent in 2001 over the previous year, Mr Hood said, compared with 6 per cent more from VHS rental and 13 per cent from VHS sales.

He believed DVD had already overtaken video in many urban centres and large stores.

"It's 60-40 DVD being stocked and sold, from what I hear."

The total takeover by DVD would take some time.

Bond & Bond Queen St saleswoman Evette Mitchell said sales of DVD players in the store were "pretty phenomenal".

She said that for every one video player sold, four DVD players went out the door.

"We started noticing it about a year ago. Since then, we've had many more inquiries and sales for DVDs than VCRs."



Andrew Cornwell , general manager of Columbia Tristar, said the estimated retail sales figure for DVD last year was about $30 million in New Zealand. The figure next year is expected to top $100 million.

He attributed the growth to the price drop for players - a basic unit is just $249 at Woolworths.

An estimated 150,000 New Zealand households have DVD players.

That figure does not include those who have a PlayStation 2, which can also play DVD movies. The number is expected to reach 250,000 by the end of next year.

About one million New Zealand households have video players.

Mr Cornwell said the one drawback of the technology is that the basic unit cannot record.

Those that can still cost around $3000 to $4000, but Mr Cornwell said that price was expected to drop.

DVD would continue to grow and VHS would shrink.

"We'll still be doing some VHS in five years. I wouldn't want to say so in 10 though. It will be all but gone. DVD is where it's at."