DVD and Blu-ray sales statistics

This post summarises the information I have found on DVD and Blu-ray sales statistics for the UK.

This information is not readily available and I've had to piece the information together from different sources.

1998-2012 data:
The Numbers on 20 Years of Film Rental
2013 data:
Retail DVDs: units sold to UK consumers 2007-2013 | Statistic
Retail blu-ray discs sold to UK consumers 2007-2013 | Statistic
2014 data:
Video, games and music sales score second successive year of growth - Entertainment Retailers Association
"DVD sales - down 12.9% - and Blu-ray - down 8.2% - continued to decline"

Number of discs sold in the UK, by format and year

DVD
1998 0.2m
1999 4.0m
2000 16.6m
2001 41.3m
2002 89.9m
2003 145.0m
2004 196.5m
2005 211.2m
2006 227.0m
2007 248.1m
2008 252.9m
2009 234.6m
2010 210.1m
2011 191.8m
2012 162.0m
2013 143.4m
2014 124.9m

Blu-ray
2007 0.8m
2008 3.7m
2009 8.4m
2010 13.0m
2011 15.3m
2012 16.7m
2013 18.8m
2014 17.3m

I was actually looking for 2015 data and could only find the infographic below, which states that combined DVD and Blu-ray sales in 2015 were 119.6m discs. This suggests that DVD probably continued its sharp decline to around 105m units whilst Blu-ray probably dropped again towards the 15m level. The industry seems to have a habit of presenting the data in different ways each year, in the most favourable way possible, making year-on-year comparisons difficult.

 

With BD's I wonder what happened in 2014 for sales to fall?

 

Unfortunately Blu-ray seems to have lost its momentum from 2010 - the percentage growth rates weren't great. I guess the market has changed and the public have moved on to streaming, their DVDs have gone to Music Magpie!

 

Might simply be that there weren't that many really big titles released in 2014.
2013 had Frozen & Iron Man 3. 2014 was never gonna match the numbers of 2013.

These are box office figures, but I'd expect similar trend for home releases.
2013
2013 in film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2014
2014 in film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'd expect 2016 numbers to be higher than 2015 numbers due to Force Awakens.

 

Excellent summary of Blu-ray sales in the US (same overall picture as the UK):

Blu-ray: The State of Play – December 2014

"Although we still have a couple of (big) weeks to go, unless these prove to be exceptional and record breaking, it does look like 2014, at best, would be a year where Blu-ray growth stalled. Blu-ray revenue may even be in decline, but its market share is still growing slightly thanks to DVD’s faster decline."

 

It is certainly possible. According to Box Office Mojo, US box office tickets sold in 2014 were down 5.6% but rebounded 5.2% in 2015.

Movie Box Office Results by Year, 1980-Present - Box Office Mojo

However, reading between the lines (as per my original post), I suspect that Blu-ray sales fell for the second straight year in 2015.

 

True, but had titles like Spectre & Force Awakens (both 2015 movies) been released on DVD/BD in 2015 we'd be saying sales of DVD/BD have increased in 2015.

We can interpret/put a spin on the stats any way we like really.

 

Well I think that I've presented the data in an objective manner - unlike the British Video Association who spin it different ways each year to present the most favourable angle. I've not attempted to justify a rise or fall in sales due to particular titles - I've just presented the data so others can draw their own conclusions.

 

My personal view is that BD sales will over time decline slightly, then plateau & then hold fairly steady after that. We're not gonna see really big drops or gains in numbers.

Netflix & streaming options have been available for quite a long time now.
Most people who don't want physical media will have already moved over to Netflix, iTunes etc & don't buy discs anymore.
Those who want physical will continue to buy physical media. They either won't stream or just use it to complement their BDs.

Everybody else is probably a mixture of having Netflix/downloads & then buy the odd particular title every now & again (hence fluctuations in sales for big titles).

 

Agree with your points about consumer behaviour regarding streaming etc.

I'm also concerned about the impact that 4K discs could have on Blu-ray sales, especially if studios start treating Blu-ray as a poor relation, withholding special features, just like they did with DVD.

 

4K is gonna be really interesting. I'm of the view that it's really gonna struggle to get off the ground.

 

I completely agree and I don't intend to switch to 4K myself. I've done too many upgrade cycles already, VHS to DVD to Blu-ray. Enough is enough!

 

I can't see 4k BD being huge. For the first time ever I've little interest in upgrading to the next level.

Bri

 

I can't see 4K getting big at all, in all fairness Blu Ray never really replaced DVD at all in sales. I try to get Blu Ray when I can, but most people I know still get DVD's haha. I will continue to get Blu Rays, I never went for 3D and don't think I will get to 4k.

Now if they make 4K Steelbooks, of titles and don't release standard then I may have to. Is there any chance that PS4's will be able to play 4K Titles ?

 

Agree with the points above regarding 4K. Many will struggle to see the benefit in the home - see this article on why 4K won't benefit most. I have a 55" TV that I sit about 6ft from I can easily see the difference between SD and 1080. Not sure I'll see the difference between 1080 and 4K with my current set-up. And if I can, the difference will be slight. Given that most people have smaller TVs, sit further away, they are not going to go to 4K discs.

 

Sales figures do speak volumes , were talking about 20% adoption of Blu Ray per population , most still buying DVD even though they have a 1080p TV.

For most , 1080p is enough.

This is why a lot of companies , even large ones like mine , are in no hurry to push forward with UHD and 4K tech , the cost is prohibitive and the figures dont give it much of a chance.
Everything else is just hype and the figures are a long way behind the level of hype.

 

I think selling DVD, Blu-ray and 4K alongside each other is going to be confusing for the casual customer.

My nearest HMV still devotes around five times more floor space to DVD than Blu-ray, which is roughly in proportion to their current UK sales.

Add in a small display hyping 4K as the new gold standard, together with a 4K screen demo and suddenly things look confused. Blu-ray becomes neither mass market nor the collectors choice, in PR terms. It's caught in the middle.

 

I don't know many people that buy DVD's let alone Blu-ray disc's? Most of the guys at work are happy with cheap dvd rips/copies and most are now converting over to kodi and streaming films/tv shows. Not sure what all this means for the future of physical media??

 

Probably not that much as they've probably never/hardly ever bought legit physical media anyway.

As said before, those that are likely to switch to streaming have most probably already done so by now. Those that want physical media, will probably continue with physical media & complement with Netflix/Amazon.

 

I don't understand the desire to stream stuff - you pay for stuff and then have nothing to show for it if the network connection goes down / the company folds / you cancel your membership etc.

I appreciate it's probably good for dumping the children in front of the TV with the remote control when you just want to get stuff done round the house, but for quality media I want to keep, it's physical copies all the way for me.

I am somewhat torn over whether to flog my BDs now or not - I can't afford the 4K OLED TV I want and there is barely any 4K content (and I read stuff about 8K being the preferred way forward??) - but I'd rather not have shelves of stuff worth 50p each, like most DVDs are worth nowadays, so I can argue both for keeping them and selling them now...


(Oh, and I don't understand how people can watch DVDs or SD streaming on big TVs - anything not in HD makes my eyes bleed lol)

 

I've not tried streaming options for the reasons you've mentioned. Perhaps I'm mistaken but the prospect of losing connection or buffering mid-way through a movie is unacceptable.

I guess many of us who grew up with VHS etc see things differently to those who grew up with YouTube. Even the idea of a movie collection itself.

 

It still annoys me that content that is filmed in HD is sometimes only released on DVD

 

Thats not necessarily true. Some DVDs can look surprisingly good on a big screen. In fact Ive been fooled a couple of times with a DVD looking better than you'd expect.

 

Utopia series 2 take a bow.

 

I'm one of the many that grew up with VHS etc . I'm also one of people who couldn't live without Netflix and Amazon now ( never had a problem with either ) as they have great original content and films. This has really changed my BD buying habits from 6 to 8 a month to 1 or 2 . I will also be adopting UHD BD as I'm set up for it but will continue to use all as I find multiple formats gives me the best overall content.

 

I think I'd be more interested in streaming if I watched more TV series, as you mentioned original content.

If you look at streaming as the modern rental, then there seems to be an ongoing shift back to the VHS days where most people rented and fewer people made purchases. The DVD era of sell-through dominating rental seems like an anomaly.

 

I believe the rise of on demand services are having the most impact on physical sales . It also helps that now that a new film is released simultaneously on all formats , in times gone by it was only available on DVD and you had to either rent or buy the DVD. Ease of use also comes into play on the streaming front for the couch potatoes .

 

I suspect you're correct. I only use Channel 4's on demand service as as rule which works reasonably well. I attempted to use BBC iPlayer the other day to watch the beginning of a show which my recorder had fouled up. It was rubbish. All manner of picture break up, sound out of sync and going back to previous scenes. It was unwatchable. Hopefully that's not usual but it means I can't enjoy on demand services as I'm expecting problems. Even minor issues spoil the pleasure. I'll stick mainly to disc for now.

Bri

 

I should of stated subscription based on demand services such as Netflix and Amazon. Totally agree with you on channel specific on demand services front as picture quality can be awful.

 

I knew you meant subscription services but I have little experience of them. Only a couple of free trials with Netflix. Even Netflix was quite poor at times.

Bri