IT PRO: Blogs: Chris Green: Amazon bolts from DVD rentals as digital competition takes hold

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Amazon bolts from DVD rentals as digital competition takes hold

Posted in TV and Movies, Mergers and Acquisitions, Apple on February 6, 2008 at 4:38 pm

Late last night, I could hear screams of terror and desperation all around me.

No, I had not turned the volume up on my home cinema system too loud while watching The Gate, but rather it was the sound of 300,000 customers of Amazon.co.uk

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Comments

Comment by Snake'n'Bake - February 7, 2008 on 8:52 am

I run some affiliate schemes for lovefilm and other online rental companies and I think you’ve missed the fact the Lovefilm is the only one to offer downloads (free and paid) already on its own platform in the UK. Also would the studios be putting so much money into HD-DVD (well BluRay now) if it was a format that was not expected to be the standard for many years?

Comment by Chris Green - February 7, 2008 on 8:49 pm

Not at all, I’ve hit it right on the head. Based on your comment, it appears you did not actually read my whole post.

Therefore I respectfully direct you to the penultimate paragraph:

In the US, rent-by-mail operators such as NetFlix have begun to dabble with download rentals, in an effort to protect their business. LoveFilm is doing the same, which is certainly a major reason why Amazon looked to roll its small but successful service into it, in return for equity.

As you will see, I’ve already covered this point.

LoveFilm already has a footing in digital rental downloads, Amazon doesn’t, but realises this is the way to go in light of Apple’s move.

As for HD DVD/Blu-ray - regardless of which disc format eventually wins the war, HD discs will never enjoy the market dominance that standard definition DVDs enjoyed, let alone the speed of adoption. The content can be delivered electronically, and this will become even easier as telecoms companies globally squeeze more and more out of DSL, Cable and Fibre to the kerb.

HD requires far more of a technology buy-in - you need more than just a new player, in the majority of cases you will need a new TV as well. This will slow adoption considerably and ensure that the winning disc format never has a clear playing field long enough to make it matter. By the time everyone has caught up technologically (new TVs), the next thing will be at the early adopter stage, based on historical timelines, HD pre-recorded media (be it HD DVD or Blu-ray) has about 6 years to run before it too becomes old-hat.

People like the tactile of experience of physical media, this is why publications such as IT PRO have not wiped out their print-based rivals (instead we peacefully co-exist….ish). The same applies for pre-recorded media and downloads, but like newspapers, circulation and demand for pre-recorded media is in decline and there are no signs of this changing.

Comment by Bernard Betts - February 13, 2008 on 1:44 am

I found Lovefilm appalling in terms of DVD availability and after years of subscribing I gave up. I imagine downloading will also come a cropper when bandwidth limitations clog up the works. This would not just be a Lovefilm issue (though I imagine it will subscribe to the minimum dimension) as the UK’s broadband infrastructure is pathetic, even compared to that of some inferior economies. Only a limited number of spiders can be supported by such a fragile web!

Comment by Joannah - March 18, 2009 on 9:44 am

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Comment by jordan 6 rings - July 18, 2009 on 8:34 am

As you will see, I’ve already agree this point.

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