Statistics on the State of America’s Anime Industry Revealed

The February 25-March 3 issue of Home Media Magazine reports some little seen details about the state of the American anime industry.

An article on page 7 reports that in 2006 FUNimation was again, for the sixth straight year, America’s top anime distributor, accounting for 23.2% of all American anime DVD sales. Reportedly FUNimation’s market penetration peaked in 2002, when the company accounted for 38.3% of all American anime DVD sales. Following behind FUNimation in 2006 were:

AD Vision, with a 12.6% market share
Geneon, with an 11.1% market share
Sony Pictures, with a 9.3% market share
Viz Media, with a 9.2% market share

A graph on page 6 of the magazine charts annual domestic anime DVD releases through the President’s Day holiday (the first 7 weeks of the year). There were 97 anime DVDs released within the first seven weeks of 2005, 86 anime DVDs released in the first seven weeks of 2006, and only 56 anime DVDs released in the first seven weeks of this year.