-- U.S. consumers will reach overall sales of 21 million DVD-equipped devices this year, including 9 million DVD players, according to a report published this month by market research firm Strategy Analytics.
By the end of this year TV-connected DVD players will be in 14% of U.S. homes, the report states. Including households with DVD-ROM drives on home computers, the total DVD penetration rises to 25%. That figure is expected to grow to 41% next year and to 80% by 2005.
"DVD's superiority will tempt many consumers to buy more video and to replace their existing VHS collections," said Nick Griffiths, senior analyst, in a statement.
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- "Erin Brockovich," released as DVD from Universal Studios Home Video, has reached the coveted mark of one million units shipped, it was announced here. This represents a new breakthrough in the DVD market and drama genre, according to Universal executives.
To date, films shipping a million units have been primarily action-adventure and special effects-driven productions targeting teenage and male audiences.
"In addition to being the first major motion picture on DVD featuring a leading female actor to ship more than a million units, we've uncovered a whole new female constituency who has embraced the non-traditional family drama and shown a strong appetite for the DVD format. Clearly this proves that DVD is able to cross over from the traditional male-oriented successes and capture a whole new audience," said Craig Kornblau, Universal's president of the home video division.