The DVD Boom is Over

According to ICv2 research, the boom market for DVDs in America has passed. ICv2 reports that American home video sales for the first half of 2005 increased by only 1.1%. In relation to the American anime industry, ICv2 claims that anime has been able to cling to its 1.5% share of the North American home video market based mainly on the sales of, “top tier titles such as Miyazaki’s Nausicaa.” “Extremely poor sales on ‘B’ and ‘C’ level titles and licensing costs make it difficult for American anime companies to lower prices — the average anime MSRP has only gone from $27.97 in 1997 to $26.11 in 2005.”