DVD bargains put VCR sales into fast reverse

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

The days of video-recorders seem numbered after the decision by one of the machines largest makers to stop selling them.

The humble video player, with its rickety moving parts and renowned unreliability, is already disappearing from shop shelves.

Philips, the company that developed VCR in the 1970s, has stopped selling them to concentrate on the fast-growing DVD market.

Philips said the VCR had "simply had its day" and that the DVD had become the fastest-selling piece of new technology in the world.

The boom is also causing problems for media conglomerate Viacom, which is struggling to sell its share in the video movie-rental chain Blockbuster.

In New Zealand, the frumpy old VHS player is expected to vanish from the market, despite hanging on in lounges around the country growing obsolete.

Ted Gibbons, the editor of New Zealand technology publication Tone Magazine said: "In five years they will be history, I wouldn't buy one."

He said DVDs were far more reliable and had superior visual and audio quality.

Users were able to jump to their favourite scenes by remote, without the tedium of having to rewind or fast-forward a tape.

They could also quickly transmit information from digital cameras and video cameras to a DVD disc.

"As a format, they are streets ahead," Mr Gibbons said.

Jason Bell, the general manager of merchandise at Pacific Retail Group, said the lowering cost of DVDs made them more accessible to consumers.

The company, which manages retail chain Noel Leeming, charged $1499 for a standard DVD when they came on the market five years ago. Today they cost $89 against $130 for a basic video player.

PRG, the largest home VHS and DVD retailer in the country, reported that its DVD sales had risen from 40 per cent of the market in 2002 to 47 per cent last year, with the remainder going to VHS sales.

The company expects DVD sales to account for 70 per cent of turnover this year.

Mr Bell said DVD sales would jump again when the cost of DVD recording machines dropped.

A DVD player, which is able to record information, costs around $799 at present, compared with $4999 when they were introduced two years ago.

Video Ezy, the country's largest movie rental company, has seen a huge jump in the number of DVD rentals across its 145 franchise stores.

In January last year DVD rentals accounted for 30 per cent of its turnover. Last month, DVD rentals were 60 per cent of its turnover.

"There's been a massive increase, for sure," said Chris Osborne, the operations manager of Video Ezy International.

"It's moved much faster than people anticipated."