Disney sells nearly a half million films through iTunes

[AppleInsider]

Walt Disney Co. said Thursday it has sold nearly a half million films through Apple Computer's iTunes store since announcing the distribution deal a little less than two months ago.

The sales figure, which amounts to approximately $4 million in revenue, was announced during the entertainment conglomerate's fiscal fourth quarter conference call with analysts and members of the media.

Disney said it expects movie downloads to generate $50 million in added revenue during the first year of the program.

It started by making 75 movies available on iTunes service in Sept. and recently announced plans to add the No. 1 animated film of the year, Cars, and the No. 1 film of the year, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

With half a million sales in just under eight weeks, customers are purchasing approximately 62,500 movies from Apple's iTunes store each week, or just shy of 9,000 each day.

"This underlines the strength and uniqueness of our film library, and indicates there is a consumer appetite for movie downloads that complements demand for DVDs," said president and chief executive Robert Iger.

Thus far, Disney is the only major motion picture studio who has agreed to sell its films through the ubiquitous iTunes service. However, News Corp's. Fox Entertainment Group and independent Lions Gates are reported to be in ongoing negotiations with Apple about making their catalog of films available to iTunes customers.

In beating Wall Street's expectations, Disney said earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased 89 percent to $0.36, compared to $0.19 in the year-ago quarter. Profits doubled from $379 million to $782 million.

"Disney had a spectacular year, posting record revenues, record net income, and record cash flow," Iger said. "It is a result of the incredible creativity at our company."

Iger added that the company is close to wrapping up a digital distribution deal with Comcast that would likely result in the delivery of new shows to both the provider's cable and online customers.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[UrbanVoyeur]

With numbers like this, deals with other studios are just a matter of time.

Wonder why HBO is waiting so long, leaving money on the table?

Looks like iTV will be a big hit.

[SpamSandwich]

Well, you have to give it to Jobs. Selling Pixar back in exchange for majority stockholder status went a long way toward getting this deal done. Kids movies probably make more sense right off the bat, too. Once the library starts getting competitive with Netflix and there are many more formats to view content on, sales will really take off. Yes, yes, I know it's just beginning. I still want to know what the real direction for iTV will be.

[Kickaha]

Holy mouse ears! Wasn't the one month mark something like 100k? Meaning that the growth trend is increasing? If so, rather gives lie to the analysis that "Oh, that's just early adopters and Apple fanatics..." that we saw in the first few weeks of this.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Yes, yes, I know it's just beginning. I still want to know what the real direction for iTV will be.

MacWorld SF Jan2007. It's gonna be mind-blowing. I'm setting my expectations very low, just so I guarantee I'll be surprised 8) ... But as mentioned previously in another thread, Macs and iPods are maxxed out for now, so processor bumps will not really be in the Keynote, just a short summary/ review perhaps. Something new is in the wind for 2007. Time for Apple to take the next step.

[SpamSandwich]

My HD is just the standard 150GB that came w/ my computer. I guess new Mac Pros are coming with, what, 500GB standard HDs?

I wonder what the recommended iTV config would be... as for me, I've had to delete a lot of free iTunes video content recently. Too much frickin' space lost to it. I still loves me them DVDs tho'.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Holy mouse ears! Wasn't the one month mark something like 100k? Meaning that the growth trend is increasing? If so, rather gives lie to the analysis that "Oh, that's just early adopters and Apple fanatics..." that we saw in the first few weeks of this.

Totally dude. I thought I read a "Apple iTunes Movies is teh doomed" alongside the news that XBOX360-Live/Connect will allow movie rentals from Paramount and WarnerBros.

Macworld SF2007 Jan - I would definitely like to see FOX (StarWars and stuff), Paramount, WarnerBros (Matrix and Stuff), Touchstone, HBO, etc, etc... A lot of movies available!! It may eat into the Wallmart physical sales a bit but it may add to overall movie sales from the studios. I don't think the studios are that scared of Wallmart, IMHO. But that was debated heavily in another thread and I'm not going there. 8)

[SpamSandwich]

Still sucks that downloaded movies have no special features.

[solsun]

Not bad, not bad..

If Apple starts renting movies when iTv is released, they oughta be renting 500,000 movies per day.. Heck, iTunes sells 2 million songs per day, so they could easily achieve that number with rentals.

[SpamSandwich]

I agree, Steve would have to be a complete idiot not to include rentals in the iTunes movies panoply.

[solsun]

Okay, these numbers got me curious, so I did a little math..

Reading the Wal-Mart threads a few weeks ago, it was stated that DVD sales are a 17 billion dollar a year business in the US, and 60% of that is from Wal-mart alone.

If you figure the average selling price of DVD's is appx $15, that means that 3.1 million DVD's are sold per day in the U.S. If Apple is selling 9000 movies per day, that means they already have 2.9% of the pie with Disney movies alone. I think that is actually quite good!

[UrbanVoyeur]

Originally Posted by solsun

Okay, these numbers got me curious, so I did a little math..

Reading the Wal-Mart threads a few weeks ago, it was stated that DVD sales are a 17 billion dollar a year business in the US, and 60% of that is from Wal-mart alone.

If you figure the average selling price of DVD's is appx $15, that means that 3.1 million DVD's are sold per day in the U.S. If Apple is selling 9000 movies per day, that means they already have 2.9% of the pie with Disney movies alone. I think that is actually quite good!

This must be what has Walmart worried. How much of this is in addition to DVD sales rather than instead of? Any idea?

[SpamSandwich]

More questions ...

How many people like to watch movies?

How many people in the US rent DVDs?

How many people in the US buy DVDs?

OK, now how many people own a computer (any computer)?

How many people have installed and use iTunes?

How many people use iTunes to buy music or movies?

You'll find the numbers get quite small the more you ask questions.

[TenoBell]

Movie downloads are not completely about iTV. Which doesn't even exist yet.
Its more about the installed iPod base.

The 80 GB iPod can store:
50 movies
100 hour long television dramas
200 sitcoms
2000 music videos


The 40 GB iPod can store:
20 movies
40 hour long television dramas
80 sitcoms
800 music videos

All of this media can be carried on a 4" x 2.4" device weighing 5.5 ounces and can be plugged into any television.

Versus carrying around a stack of easily scratched DVD's.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

More questions ...

How many people like to watch movies?

How many people in the US rent DVDs?

How many people in the US buy DVDs?

OK, now how many people own a computer (any computer)?

How many people have installed and use iTunes?

How many people use iTunes to buy music or movies?

You'll find the numbers get quite small the more you ask questions.

I know that 80% of American households have at least one computer and 50% of those households use a broadband internet connection.. Considering that 2 million songs are sold per day on iTunes the numbers may not be as small as you think. Next to amazon.com, iTunes is the most visited eCommerce site in the world. iTunes awarness is definitely very high. I think if Apple were able to get all the major studios on board and they incorporate a rental method, it will be massive.

[MacTel]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

More questions ...

How many people like to watch movies?

How many people in the US rent DVDs?

How many people in the US buy DVDs?

OK, now how many people own a computer (any computer)?

How many people have installed and use iTunes?

How many people use iTunes to buy music or movies?

You'll find the numbers get quite small the more you ask questions.

Well, image that you could download content directly through iTV and transfer it to an iPod (wirelessly would be nice) and then in turn stream it back to the iTV from your iPod. No computer. That would make the pie a bit bigger wouldn't you say.

I own two iPods and have only bought 1 music download from iTunes and don't intend to buy any movies. I still buy CDs for the high fidelity. I would buy television series from HBO and Showtime that I don't have in my cable plan through iTunes though. So, in that sense the iTV might be useful to me.

How many people watch television?

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Still sucks that downloaded movies have no special features.

I child has to walk before he can run.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by UrbanVoyeur

With numbers like this, deals with other studios are just a matter of time.

Wonder why HBO is waiting so long, leaving money on the table?

Looks like iTV will be a big hit.

It's very odd about HBO. They were one of the first to announce that they would like to be on iTunes. Then nothing.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Holy mouse ears! Wasn't the one month mark something like 100k? Meaning that the growth trend is increasing? If so, rather gives lie to the analysis that "Oh, that's just early adopters and Apple fanatics..." that we saw in the first few weeks of this.

I was thinking about that myself. Interesting numbers.

I wonder how many Amazon has sold.

Or the other sites.

Have any released fiqures?

Does anyone know?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

My HD is just the standard 150GB that came w/ my computer. I guess new Mac Pros are coming with, what, 500GB standard HDs?

250

I wonder what the recommended iTV config would be... as for me, I've had to delete a lot of free iTunes video content recently. Too much frickin' space lost to it. I still loves me them DVDs tho'.

How many movies would you buy? Or rip?

[monkeyastronaut]

aahh throw us a freakin bone apple. LATAM iTunes store puh-leeez.

[Johhny Motel]

Originally Posted by solsun

Okay, these numbers got me curious, so I did a little math..

Reading the Wal-Mart threads a few weeks ago, it was stated that DVD sales are a 17 billion dollar a year business in the US, and 60% of that is from Wal-mart alone.

If you figure the average selling price of DVD's is appx $15, that means that 3.1 million DVD's are sold per day in the U.S. If Apple is selling 9000 movies per day, that means they already have 2.9% of the pie with Disney movies alone. I think that is actually quite good!

Is my maths or did you get the decimal place wrong, I made it .29%. That would make more sense given the time frame.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by Johhny Motel

Is my maths or did you get the decimal place wrong, I made it .29%. That would make more sense given the time frame.

$17,000,000,000 / $15 = 1,133,333,333 (1.1 billion Dvd's Sold Per Year)

1,133,333,333 / 365 days = 3,105,022 (3.1 million DVD's sold per day)

9000 (itunes sales per day) / 3,105,022 (total sales per day) = 2.9%

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these numbers are correct.

[eAi]

Type

9000 / 3105022 * 100

Into a calculator (or google), the result is 0.29% not 2.9%

[OfficerDigby]

No back to School for you!

9000 (itunes sales per day) / 3,105,022 (total sales per day) = 2.9%

0.29%

[solsun]

Originally Posted by OfficerDigby

No back to School for you!



0.29%

Okay, got it..

[Shaun, UK]

Sorry to rub it in but the figure is even less as Wall Mart actually accounts for 40% of US DVD sales (see extract below from a previous AppleInsider report).

"Wal-Mart, which controls about 40 percent of DVD sales in the US, had previously warned studios about undercutting the price of DVDs in its stores by agreeing to Jobs' terms for iTunes."

No matter, I think movie sales is a great idea and I'm really looking forward to next year when hopefully iTunes UK will start selling TV shows and movies. Eventually when iTV completes the overall package sales are going to rocket.

I'm so looking forward to Steve's keynote in January.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by Shaun, UK

Sorry to rub it in but the figure is even less as Wall Mart actually accounts for 40% of US DVD sales (see extract below from a previous AppleInsider report).

"Wal-Mart, which controls about 40 percent of DVD sales in the US, had previously warned studios about undercutting the price of DVDs in its stores by agreeing to Jobs' terms for iTunes."

Even if Wal-Mart accounts for 40% rather than 60% of sales, DVD's are still a 17 billion dollar a year business, so iTunes percentage doesn't change. They are still at .29%

[oberpongo]

Compared to 125.000 in the first week of the itunes Movie store. The Movie Sale Rate per Week is actually slowing down. This is a little disappointing

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solsun

Even if Wal-Mart accounts for 40% rather than 60% of sales, DVD's are still a 17 billion dollar a year business, so iTunes percentage doesn't change. They are still at .29%

That's a world wide number. So, Apple's percentage is higher here in the US, which is all their movie store sells to right now.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by oberpongo

Compared to 125.000 in the first week of the itunes Movie store. The Movie Sale Rate per Week is actually slowing down. This is a little disappointing

You can't ever go by the first week.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by melgross

That's a world wide number. So, Apple's percentage is higher here in the US, which is all their movie store sells to right now.

No, it's actually 17 billion a year in the US.

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by oberpongo

Compared to 125.000 in the first week of the itunes Movie store. The Movie Sale Rate per Week is actually slowing down. This is a little disappointing

Ah, that was the figure I was thinking was for the first month. Ah well.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by oberpongo

Compared to 125.000 in the first week of the itunes Movie store. The Movie Sale Rate per Week is actually slowing down. This is a little disappointing

When Apple released the 125,000 number, wasn't it for the first two weeks?

Edit: Never mind, it was after 8 days.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Ireland

I child has to walk before he can run.

It takes a village.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by melgross

How many movies would you buy? Or rip?

I buy an average of 1 to 2 DVDs a month. I view about 16-20 DVDs a month via Netflix. I don't rip any movies. It's such a waste of HD space. If I like it enough, I'll just buy the DVD.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by melgross

250
How many movies would you buy? Or rip?

I wouldn't buy any movies. If iTunes rented movies, I'd probably rent 3-4 a week, which is what I do now.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

I buy an average of 1 to 2 DVDs a month. I view about 16-20 DVDs a month via Netflix. I don't rip any movies. It's such a waste of HD space. If I like it enough, I'll just buy the DVD.

Damn, I wish I had the time to watch that many movies. I just recently canceled my Netflix account because I found myself holding on to the same 3 movies for over a month because I couldn't find the time to watch them. It wasn't so much a bargain anymore. Needless to say I won't be using the Microsoft service either.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by JupiterOne

Damn, I wish I had the time to watch that many movies. I just recently canceled my Netflix account because I found myself holding on to the same 3 movies for over a month because I couldn't find the time to watch them. It wasn't so much a bargain anymore. Needless to say I won't be using the Microsoft service either.

If I find myself unable to make it through a movie (boring, too slow, whatever) I force myself to send it back as soon as I can. Why waste time watching lousy movies? I have nearly 400 movies on my Netflix waiting list, gotta keep 'em rolling.

[TenoBell]

Compared to 125.000 in the first week of the itunes Movie store. The Movie Sale Rate per Week is actually slowing down. This is a little disappointing.

The selection is rather low right now also. Sales will increase when there is more choice.

I won't buy iTunes movies

iTunes success isn't dependent on you old farts anyway.

iTunes real growth will be in the 25 and under crowd.