DIsney has reported that it has sold over 1.5 million movies on iTunes since October. The folks over at imdb.com give us more details
:The Walt Disney Co., the only major film company that has permitted its movies to be distributed online via Apple’s iTunes Music Store, said Thursday that it has sold 1.3 million movie downloads since they became available for downloading last October. In an interview with the London Financial Times, Disney CEO Robert Iger remarked, “Have we had discussions with these retailers? Yes, absolutely. In general, our relationship with these retailers is in good shape.” He indicated that store sales have not been affected by online sales. “We are growing market share rather than moving business from one platform to another,” he said.
I think we all knew that this venue would make money, for people who want to download movies but feel guilty about getting them for free, this is a good alternative. And it’s quicker than the movie home deliver services as well. Do I think other studios will follow suit now that Disney has proven it is good business? Yes, definitely.
Will it drop the hard copy sales in normal stores? You bet it will, I can’t believe that there hasn’t been a considerable drop yet. My guess is that it will happen over time. Disney isn’t really to blame for that, if they hadn’t joined iTunes someone else would have eventually. The thing is…who wants to have all that packaging around if you don’t need it? At least now people are paying for the movies they download, there is less plastic waste and customers can bring movies with them on the go with the iPod’s.
This is a good story for the consumer, and, of course, for Disney.
