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February 2, 2007

itunes_store

The Mouse sells 1.3 million flicks via iTunes

Posted Feb. 2, ’07, 9:36 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Jobs & IgerIt appears that despite our continued perplexed head-scratching, someone is buying movies via iTunes. Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that they’ve sold 1.3 million films through the download service in the three months since they introduced films.

The figures are decent, but they’re hardly blockbuster (pun intended!). As we mentioned back in November, it took two months for movie sales to reach almost 500,000. The holiday season certainly gave them a boost, as by deduction, we can say they sold around 800,000 in December. But sales figures for movies still pale next to those for TV shows and music.

The news here, as far as Iger is concerned, is that download sales did not cannibalize from the sales of DVDs, despite the misgivings of retail chains like Target and Wal-Mart. Sales were largely driven by two titles: Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, both of which sold well on DVD (Dead Man’s Chest is apparently on track to be the best selling DVD ever).

[Iger] said digital distribution was “creating more consumption of media”. He added: “The message that we deliver to our traditional [retail] partners is that the pie is getting bigger.”
That’s certainly a good message to be sending—not only to the retailers, but to the other studios who haven’t signed up with iTunes yet. That, to my mind, is still the biggest holdout for a lot of people—selection. Perhaps the sales figures will encourage some of the other studios to show up to the game.


5 Comments

Walt Basil said:

You can stop scratching your heads. I admit it. I'm one of those buying movies off iTunes. Pumping it over to my entertainment system is as easy as plugging 2 cables into the side of my PowerBook and hitting play. It's about to get easier with the release of Apple TV.

It's cheaper than DVDs and much easier to obtain and store. I have a collection of over 300 DVDs that I've bought over the years sitting on a couple shelves. Now I pump them to an external drive for storage once I've viewed them. The bottom line for me is that if it's available on iTunes and it's one I want - I'm downloading it.

February 2, 2007 9:48 AM
Paul said:

Is iTunes cheaper than DVD when you consider you have to pay to store the movie (HD space or burning to DVD)? Is it easier to connect computer to TV than just plugging in the DVD to the player that is already connected?

February 2, 2007 11:29 AM
George said:

I agree with you, Paul. How is plugging yet another box (AppleTV ) into your TV/Stereo system easier than using the already attached DVD player? If you don't want to mess around swapping in and out discs, go to Amazon and order the Sony 400 disc DVD player for the same price as the AppleTV. It's just as good a plan as AppleTV with better picture, sound and bonus features. Well, it's just as good until you hit disc #401...

February 2, 2007 1:26 PM
Walt Basil said:

In case the replies were questions directed at me, here are my thoughts. Is it easier than a DVD already plugged in? For me that answer is just as easy, if not easier. The pluggin for iTunes is already there the same as my DVD player except for the s-vdeo, which is mere inches from the port, just hanging out. So for me, and aparently a large amount of other people, it could be just as easy, if not easier - considering the whole thing. How much energy is burned walking through a store, waiting in line, purchasing, driving home, opening a package, inserting DVD, hitting play? As opposed to clicking buy, closing that 3 inch gap between my s-video cable and my PoweBook, and hitting play? Probably negligible to most people, therefore it becomes a lifestyle issue. I go for the total digital lifestyle that my Macs are the hub in. If my issues was with having the most video or audio qualities, I would want to go with DVD, but I don't. I'm the type of guy happy with 128 AAC, and happy with the quality of the sound being pumped to my entertainment center via Airtunes. So it boils down to a matter of opinion. For me, I prefer buying movies and songs off iTunes.

As for plugging in yet another box (Apple TV), there was a time when I had to plug in yet another box (a DVD player) and I didn't seem to be too upset over it. I'm sure I'll get over it. For people like me, that's a moo point (remember friends?) for me. ;-)

February 3, 2007 8:11 AM
Christopher said:

Um... ease aside, why isn't anybody commenting on quality? Ten to fifteen dollars is hardly less expensive than the cost of a DVD, especially if you consider that any price difference for the plastic spinning disc affords you higher resolution, digital surround sound, and bonus features.

Who cares about plugging in 3 cables versus 2 when there exists more important differences?! I'll never buy a movie from iTunes until they are at least as good as the disc-alternative.

February 3, 2007 10:01 AM

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