DVD Sales Soften Slightly

USA Today is reporting that for the first time since the format was launched in 1997, consumers spent less on DVDs than in the previous year. Looking at the reported figures, this seems to be correct. But the headline is simply reporting 'DVD sales are down' when this doesn't tell the whole story. According to figures being released today at CES by the Digital Entertainment Group, total sales and rentals of DVDs were $23.4 billion in 2007, about 3% lower than in 2006. $16 billion of this were retail purchases, $7.5 billion was from the rental market.
The USA Today article seems to attribute this to people spending less on DVDs. Not quoted are her other statements made available in the actual Routers release.

Hollywood shipped 1.7 billion discs — about 30 million more than in 2006 — a sign that DVD remains strong, Smith says. "There is a natural progression to lower price points due to the maturing market," she says.
“Consumer appetite for DVD is still very strong,” said DEG executive director Amy Jo Smith, noting that DVD generated more cash in 2007 than music, video games or even box office receipts. “There is a softening in marketplace, but it’s not as dramatic as the headlines were letting on. And maintaining a $24 billion a year business — that’s huge.”

Yes, 30 million more DVDs were shipped to retailers in 2007 than the previous year. Thus we have the real story in this sentence: "The average selling price of a DVD dropped 0.5% to $14.63."
Retailers Slightly Lower Average Price Of DVD just isn't as sensational a headline, I guess. And the $16 billion figure does not seem to count DVDs sold on the used market, as many consumers like myself have made the switch to buying only used DVDs from Amazon or brick and mortar retailers.