The sale of Blu ray discs in the UK this year has been given a huge boost by the release of new blockbuster movies like James Bond’s Quantum of Solace and Batman’s The Dark Knight according to the latest figures that have been released.
In the midst of the current recession the sale of Blu ray discs has continued to increase throughout 2009 based on data taken from the Official Chart Company by the British Video Association (BVA). Compared to the same period last year the sale of Blu ray disc in 2009 has risen to 3.1 million with over 1500 Blu ray movies now available for purchase in the UK.
This has, however, caused a knock on effect in the DVD market and the combination of the effects of the current recession and consumers upgrading to the newer Blu ray format has led to DVD sales dropping significantly according to the BVA. The total number of DVDs sold so far this year is around 100 million with is a fall of 9.5 percent compared to last year’s sales.
The director general of the BVA, Lavinia Carey said “The home entertainment industry has weathered the recession extremely well, but with the loss of about 900 high street stores at the start of the year, the sales generated from impulse purchases have been hit. This has had a huge impact on our half-year result.”
The recession has also brought about an increase in the amount of movie that are currently being downloaded illegally as people are finding they have less money to spend on buying new films said Ms Carey.
She said “With an increasing number of new internet services coming on stream, the industry is aiming to encourage greater consumer up-take of legitimate downloads.”
Source - www.telegraph.co.uk