DVD-Audio/SACD Player Sales up this year

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lawrence Schulman, Aug 3, 2003.

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  1. Lawrence Schulman

    Lawrence Schulman Senior Member Thread Starter

    http://news.designtechnica.com/article878.html



    Home Audio News

    DVD-A and SACD sales up over 2002
    Wednesday, July 30 @ 11:45:00 PDT

    Current sales of Digital Video Disc (DVD) players capable of playing high-resolution audio formats have taken off this year, compared to 2002.




    This is according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). At a time when audio manufacturers are experiencing an industry-wide drop in sales - year-to-date figures were down 12 percent by the end of April - many are hoping high-resolution (hi-res) audio will be the next hot product to capture the hearts of consumers.

    "Historically there is a similarity between the introduction of hi-res audio and that of the compact disc (CD). Each product - CD, DVD, DVD-Audio (DVD-A) and Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) audio players - met the 250,000 units-shipped mark by the third year," said Sean Wargo, senior industry analyst for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). "The audio industry tends to cycle through periods of growth as each new and improved technology is introduced, witness the move from turn tables to tape to CDs and now to music DVDs."

    According to CEA market research, manufacturers shipped 148,000 DVD-A and 100,000 SACD players to retailers through May of this year.

    "If DVD-A and SACD players are going to truly mimic history, we could see the majority of consumers enjoying hi-res audio by the year 2015, with an even more rapid acceptance of the new audio technologies across the next decade and really driving growth in the audio market," added Wargo.

    In addition to tracking shipment and sales, a study conducted by CEA shows that the market is primed for digital audio formats. According to a survey conducted by eBrain Market Research earlier this year, there is strong consumer interest in DVD-based music, particularly among the 28 percent who currently own surround sound receivers. The majority of these consumers (96 percent) noted discernable differences between the audio quality of a music soundtrack and a CD when played through their surround sound system. Likewise, more than half (61 percent) expressed interest in music on DVD.

    The audio industry also is placing hope in home theater-in-a-box sales - which may help kick start sales in speaker upgrades - and the MP3 and compressed audio categories, as well as the new area of distributed audio products. CEA market research shows that MP3 player sales are up this year across all categories. Sales of in-dash MP3-compatible CD players increased 186 percent. Additionally, portable CD/MP3 player sales are up by 116 percent and sales of portable MP3 players increased by 10 percent.
     
  2. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    This is good news, but as always, no one really knows what percentage of people buying hi-rez-capable players are actually buying hi-rez software. For example, it could be that a lot of people buying DVD-Audio players are simply using them for CDs and movies. Prices of hi-rez players continue to come down, which makes them more appealing to the masses, but this doesn't mean that the masses know (or care) about hi-rez audio.

    This could mean that people are interested in DVD-Video music discs (e.g., concerts and music videos). Also, this doesn't mean that respondents to the survey place any value on hi-rez audio. They may simply be impressed with "whiz-bang" surround sound when compared to stereo CDs. So they may not be so interested in hi-rez music discs.

    I'm not trying to be a doomdayer, as I greatly enjoy and support SACD and DVD-Audio. Unfortunately, we really do not know if sales figures for hi-rez hardware translates into growing support for the hi-rez formats from the masses. Increased sales is obviously a good thing, but we can't run with it and make assumptions.
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    It's gonna be hard to win over those people who would rather download questionable sounding mp3s. Most people I talk to think they sound awsome, and no one wants to buy a whole CD with only one good song on it.

    Anyway, i'll wait another month when Sony starts rolling out it's new line of SACD players, or when good universal players get cheaper. Yup, i'm still wondering if the $179 Pioneer player converts DSD to PCM...
     
  4. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Universal players like that Pioneer will definetly help SACD and DVDA. You can't beat that price and its a fine player for 99% of the people out there.

    The other 1% are always go for a meg-buck super player anyway.

    Imagine...for around $175 dollars you can now buy a player that does everything...including playing your DVD Videos.

    That's quite the Audio Bargain of The Year to me!
     
  5. GabeG

    GabeG New Member

    Location:
    NYC
    It's great that sales are up, but as KeithH points out, we don't know if people are using the hi-rez feature on their players.

    The reason why sales are up is because there are simply more low cost dvd players that now offer one or both formats than there were a year ago. When all of panasonic's dvd players (but the cheapest) have dvd-a capability, it's only natural that dvd-a player sales will go up. Same goes for Sony and Sacd. These statistics are all smoke and mirrors.
     
  6. chaz

    chaz Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Sales in Canada won't go up until the retail outlets (other than the high end ones) start stocking them!!! Just another rant from the music retail wastelands of Canada! :sigh:
     
  7. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Grant said:

    Everything I have read says that the DVD-563A converts DSD to 24/384 PCM. Have you read anything to the contrary?
     
  8. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    A lot of people have Sony home theaters in a box, and don't even know they can play SACD's!
     
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