News

Funimation Tallies 1/3rd of North American Anime Sales (Updated)

The ICv2 retail news source reports that Funimation commanded 32.7% of North American anime sales in the first half of 2008, according to data from the Nielsen VideoScan service. VideoScan's statistics do not include sales from the Wal-Mart retail chain, for which Funimation may have an even higher share of the market. This increase in Funimation's share does not include the recently announced acquisitions of former ADV titles and relicensed Geneon titles, both of which began shipping in the second half of 2008. ICv2 has also announced the release of the ICv2 Guide #59: Anime/Manga book, which includes more information on the North American anime and manga markets. The guide includes ICv2's lists of the top 50 anime and manga during the first half of the year.

Update: Retailer AnimeNation's John Oppliger, who has access to either the full ICv2 Guide or the actual Nielsen figures, notes in his store's blog that the other major companies' shares of the North American market for the same period are Viz Media: 15.9%, ADV Films: 10.5%, Bandai Entertainment: 7.7%, and Media Blasters: 5%.