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NEWS: ICv2: North American Anime DVDs Were Down 20%+ in 2007

The dvd sales are down because over the years we went from a $20.00 dvd to almost a $30.00 dvd which only has 4 to 6 episodes on it. Buying a complete box set is cheaper, when and if the box set comes out.

Of course DVD sales are going to be down a lot when an entire company goes under (Geneon). The rest of it probably is following the general DVD market downturn. However, none of us are really qualified to speak on why the sales are down so I find these threads kind of funny, even if I decide to give my two cents.

Would the fact that the entire American economy is sort of down have anything to do with it?

Also, if any other fans are purist or extremist as I am, they would never buy anime from "American devil dogs." Am I right?

I have no choice but to bring Geneon into this debate. Was the reduction in sales solely the result of Geneon's demise, or are there another factors as well?

The number of releases is decreasing slowly, but sales are falling sharply. Strange, that. Are companies pouring money down a drain by still releasing a lot of fringe titles that do poorly? The rate of decrease might suggest that. Or perhaps Geneon released quite a few titles, then never stayed to collect the money. Or something.

On another note, $500 million is a lot of money. That was no doubt when Dragonball Z was still popular, and the figure isn't all that high when I carefully think about it. But still, I never would have guessed a nine-figure amount. Shows how little I know about the economics behind the R1 Anime industry.

All I am going to say is that I have no sympathy for those who release Anime two YEARS after it initially airs on Japanese television. Even Star Wars didn't take that long to get around the world, and that was back in the 70s.

Wouldn't more anime available on TV account for some of the drop in sales. Also more places to rent anime would have an effect. I'm less likely to buy an anime title on DVD if I've already have it recorded off of TV.

dtm42 wrote:

Even Star Wars didn't take that long to get around the world, and that was back in the 70s.

Star Wars took 6 years to come out on VHS.

dtm42 wrote:

All I am going to say is that I have no sympathy for those who release Anime two YEARS after it initially airs on Japanese television. Even Star Wars didn't take that long to get around the world, and that was back in the 70s.

Star Wars took 6 years to come out on VHS.

samuraiwalt wrote:

Quote:

Wouldn't more anime available on TV account for some of the drop in sales. Also more places to rent anime would have an effect. I'm less likely to buy an anime title on DVD if I've already have it recorded off of TV.

I don't think there's anywhere near an abundance/saturation of varied anime on TV which would effectively bump down sales to a large degree, and rental options (Netflix, Greencine, Rentanime, etc.) have been the same for years.

testorschoice has put up a really solid post comparing anime sales decline in relation to overall DVD decline. With 'doom N' gloom' in the domestic DVD sales market being bandied about over a roughly 5% drop, it puts to perspective that a 40% drop over a few years (with a huge dip in one year alone) is far outside being explained by a few minor market factors. That's a massive drop in 'purchasing demand', and as much as some folks like to skirt a certain well-worn issue, logic points in that direction for better or worse (perhaps not entirely, but at least heavily).

Goodpenguin wrote:

samuraiwalt wrote: Quote: Wouldn't more anime available on TV account for some of the drop in sales. Also more places to rent anime would have an effect. I'm less likely to buy an anime title on DVD if I've already have it recorded off of TV. I don't think there's anywhere near an abundance/saturation of varied anime on TV which would effectively bump down sales to a large degree, and rental options (Netflix, Greencine, Rentanime, etc.) have been the same for years. testorschoice has put up a really solid post comparing anime sales decline in relation to overall DVD decline. With 'doom N' gloom' in the domestic DVD sales market being bandied about over a roughly 5% drop, it puts to perspective that a 40% drop over a few years (with a huge dip in one year alone) is far outside being explained by a few minor market factors. That's a massive drop in 'purchasing demand', and as much as some folks like to skirt a certain well-worn issue, logic points in that direction for better or worse (perhaps not entirely, but at least heavily).

Can you really compare anime DVD sales to domestic DVD sales? The anime market is much smaller so even a few less people buying DVDs has a larger percentage drop than with the larger domestic DVD market. Also the domestic DVD market is effected by illegal downloading the same as the anime market.

There may not be a saturation of anime on TV but there is a lot more anime on TV now than there was in 2002 and Netflix, Greencine, Rentanime, etc. were just starting to expand their rentals of anime around 2002.

Can you really compare anime DVD sales to domestic DVD sales? The anime market is much smaller so even a few less people buying DVDs has a larger percentage drop than with the larger domestic DVD market.

Also the domestic DVD market is effected by illegal downloading the same as the anime market.

There may not be a saturation of anime on TV but there is a lot more anime on TV now than there was in 2002

Netflix, Greencine, Rentanime, etc. were just starting to expand their rentals of anime around 2002.

I know people can be defensive about a certain shop-worn issue, but it's starting to look like 'Black Knight' territory from 'Monty Python'. "Your bloody arm is cut off!" "Eh, no it's not." "It's on the ground!" "Ah, it was like that already."

The US economy is heading for a recession so people don't have the money to spend anymore.