The Global Packaged Media Business will Stabilize by 2010

Surging Blu-ray Disc sales will fail to stem declining standard-definition DVD sales through 2009, but the global packaged media business will stabilize by 2010, according to Screen Digest.

DVD will be negatively impacted by the weak economy and the technology's fast falling pricing. Screen Digest notes that world DVD/Blu-ray unit shipments will continue to decline this year. Blu-ray shipments tripled between 2007 and 2008 to 67 million units, but the growth wasn’t enough to offset DVD declines. That pattern continues this year, said Screen Digest.

“Clearly, the start of a global recession was not the ideal time to launch an upgrade to what many consumers consider to be a perfectly serviceable home entertainment system, and spending on the Blu-ray format has been slower than the industry had hoped as a result,” said Helen Davis Jayalath, head of video at Screen Digest. “However, Screen Digest’s research shows that the high-def BD format has the potential to return the physical video market to growth in 2010 and to ensure that packaged media can still compete in today’s increasingly competitive entertainment world.”