Apple Still Dominates U.S. Movie Downloads and Streaming, But Rivals Growing

[MacRumors]

Market research firm IHS iSuppli yesterday released data on U.S. online movie downloads and streams for 2010, revealing that Apple continues to dominate the market with a 64.5% share of total spending. That share is down, however, from 74.4% in 2009 in the face of growth of other services such as Microsoft's Zune Video.

"The iTunes online store showed remarkable competitive resilience last year in the U.S. EST/iVOD movie business, staving off a growing field of tough challengers while keeping pace with an dramatic expansion for the overall market," said Arash Amel, research director, digital media, for IHS. "Apple faced serious competition from Microsoft's Zune Video and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Store, as well as from Amazon and - most significantly - Wal-Mart. However, iTunes managed to grow because of the introductions of the iPad and the second-generation Apple TV, which have spurred the company's movie rental offerings and have invigorated the iTunes multi-screen ecosystem. We expect that in the United States, Apple's strong performance in iVOD will allow it to continue to bypass the video on demand services offered by many major cable operators."

iSuppli reports that the overall market grew 60% in 2010, with Microsoft riding the popularity of its Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 to late-year gains with its Zune Video offerings and Wal-Mart making significant gains with its Vudu service.

Article Link: Apple Still Dominates U.S. Movie Downloads and Streaming, But Rivals Growing

 

[EvilEvil]

How do they compare to Netflix though for streaming?

 

[alent1234]

i guess i'm old fashioned, but i still buy DVD's and blu-rays. i don't want to turn the computer on just to watch something on TV i bought from iTunes

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Wow. I never knew Apple was #1. I was under the impression they were a really small player in video. I based that on the scorn I've received as an Apple TV user all these years.

Perhaps I was underestimating how many iPod users consume iTunes video content. Or maybe the VOD market isn't as big as I thought it was?

 

[ArcaneDevice]

How do they compare to Netflix though for streaming?

Vudu is the best streaming video and audio quality without any question. And no, it's not a Wal-Mart creation. They just bought the company.

 

[guzhogi]

I still prefer DVDs/Blu-Ray over iTunes for many reasons, some being:
-Better quality
-Special Features
-Closed captioning (while some iTunes videos may have this, it's extremely rare I've found)
-Resale value
-You get the whole movie/TV episode. I've found Apple sometimes deletes some scenes or parts of scenes from movies & TV shows. Example: the punk on the bus scene from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (the whale one). Arguably the best scene in the whole movie gone!

Although iTunes does have a few advantages:
-large collection
-don't have to drive somewhere to rent it
-charges less than some places
-can't run out of a movie

But whatever, Whatever works for you.

 

[andiwm2003]

i just signed up for netflix 2 month ago and will cancel it very soon. there is simply not enough on netflix for streaming. mostly old movies and even with older movies most of the interesting stuff is missing. and I'm not interested in getting physical DVD's.

iTunes movie catalogue is also way too small but at least I pay only for what I want to see, get a lot more recent movies for rent and can watch it offline.

 

[strabes]

i guess i'm old fashioned, but i still buy DVD's and blu-rays. i don't want to turn the computer on just to watch something on TV i bought from iTunes

With the 2G Apple TV you don't have to turn on the computer. You can "rent" shows and movies right from the device.

 

[strabes]

i just signed up for netflix 2 month ago and will cancel it very soon. there is simply not enough on netflix for streaming. mostly old movies and even with older movies most of the interesting stuff is missing. and I'm not interested in getting physical DVD's.

iTunes movie catalogue is also way too small but at least I pay only for what I want to see, get a lot more recent movies for rent and can watch it offline.

The movie selection is pretty weak but there are a lot of TV shows.

 

[gnasher729]

Wow. I never knew Apple was #1. I was under the impression they were a really small player in video. I based that on the scorn I've received as an Apple TV user all these years.

Since the article only gave percentages and no dollar revenue numbers, it is quite possible that Apple is "a small player" and "the #1" in paid movie downloads at the same time. Which is why I find the article rather pointless.

 

[Popeye206]

Wow... honestly... I didn't think iTunes was number 1 in this area. Also, I would have thought XBOX was bigger in this area. Surprising.

Funny... they talk about "Zune" player and not the XBOX.... is Zune even still around?

 

[rfahey]

i guess i'm old fashioned, but i still buy DVD's and blu-rays. i don't want to turn the computer on just to watch something on TV i bought from iTunes

i guess if you're one of those people who turn their computers off every time they head to the bathroom...

It's very common nowadays for people to leave their computers running; the amount of power consumed when a computer is asleep is far less than the days of computers that didn't even have a sleep function and took up the better part of your office. My ATV even wakes my computer up whenever I select it to watch moves or listen to music.

0/10 for your troll attempt. Next time convince us that you only own a laptop and you don't feel like lugging it out to watch a movie.

 

[guzhogi]

With the 2G Apple TV you don't have to turn on the computer. You can "rent" shows and movies right from the device.

What about the videos you have already bought from iTunes that are on your computer?

 

[alent1234]

With the 2G Apple TV you don't have to turn on the computer. You can "rent" shows and movies right from the device.

my 3 year old watches Scooby Doo over an over again. cheaper to buy it than keep on renting it.

same with other cartoons. itunes has some very good prices on them but i'll have to keep them on a hard drive and use airplay to play them and buy an apple TV and my 3 HDMI ports are already taken by my cable DVR, x-box and ps3

i can probably get rid of the DRM and keep them on my PS3 hard drive. or just buy the DVD's since you just pop it into the PS3 or x-box and it plays

 

[DaveGee]

Wow. I never knew Apple was #1. I was under the impression they were a really small player in video. I based that on the scorn I've received as an Apple TV user all these years.

Perhaps I was underestimating how many iPod users consume iTunes video content. Or maybe the VOD market isn't as big as I thought it was?

You're impression isn't unfounded! However, the problem isn't Apple... It's the studios/content-owners who got 'spooked' by Apple and decided to hold back on many of their titles entirely and offer SD (standard def) quality only versions of the titles and TV shows they were willing to allow Apple to sell/rent.

The problem is the studios don't want internet sales to happen. Period, end of sentence. The want you to buy bluray (now) and bluray 3d (a few years from now) and then bluray 4k some time later on. They had a really nasty (aka COSTLY) war with HD-DVD and they want to have BRD succeed (at all cost).

At all cost? YES! Consider a watered down 720p movie with ZERO features and 1 soundtrack cost/sells for MORE (on iTunes type services) than a boxed bluray disc with the full treatment of extras @ full-on 1080p resolution and SOMETIMES with a 'digital-copy' included in the box with FREE s/h taboot!!! Yes, it's quite clear that the Studios want iTunes and internet movie purchasing to die. They will only embrace it when they feel they've squeezed every dime they could from BRD sales.

Translation....

Netflix streaming wouldn't even exist had it not been for a loophole in the Stars contract it signed with the content owners that allowed Stars to RESELL their rights to streaming services (this may have been either just as the net got traction or maybe even before the high-speed web really took off) and when netflix came knocking Stars was all too willing to take their money in trade for a low(er) quality back catalog of movies that Netflix could in-turn stream legally!

However, this is something that I'm sure the content owners will NOT resign as contracts come up for renewal.

Who else sells legal access to movies? Amazon, Microsoft Marketplace and a handful of other players all with equally PISS POOR catalogs of movies (as compared to iTunes*) and/or overly restrictive DRM appendages.

*This isn't something I want to debate... if someone has an opinion that XXX and YYY or ZZZ have "WAY BETTER" streaming/selling catalogs then I concede now to avoid the argument. I'll GLADLY buy from ANY online service that can offer me a 'respectable' catalog of 1080p / 1080i / 720p titles and a reasonable price and reasonable means that I can't search Amazon and find the same thing cheaper and with added content!

 

[alent1234]

With the 2G Apple TV you don't have to turn on the computer. You can "rent" shows and movies right from the device.

my 3 year old watches Scooby Doo over an over again. cheaper to buy it than keep on renting it.

same with other cartoons. itunes has some very good prices on them but i'll have to keep them on a hard drive and use airplay to play them and buy an apple TV and my 3 HDMI ports are already taken by my cable DVR, x-box and ps3

i can probably get rid of the DRM and keep them on my PS3 hard drive. or just buy the DVD's since you just pop it into the PS3 or x-box and it plays

i guess if you're one of those people who turn their computers off every time they head to the bathroom...

It's very common nowadays for people to leave their computers running; the amount of power consumed when a computer is asleep is far less than the days of computers that didn't even have a sleep function and took up the better part of your office. My ATV even wakes my computer up whenever I select it to watch moves or listen to music.

0/10 for your troll attempt. Next time convince us that you only own a laptop and you don't feel like lugging it out to watch a movie.

actually i do only have laptops in the house. my work laptop, my wife's work laptop and my beta Google Chrome laptop i'm testing. i'll probably buy my own laptop later this year once the sandy bridge thing is sorted out.

used to have a desktop until a year ago and now i'm done with them. my wife and i use our iphones more than the laptops. we're going to buy something in the $700 range with a 1TB hard drive just to hold data and sync iphones and ipad. unless they still have desktops 20 years from now, i probably won't have one for a long time.

 

[pagansoul]

My MacPro is always on. I do several $1 rented movies a month and use Netflix because I never watch TV shows while they run on TV. I'm a good 2 years behind. I use both Amazon and iTunes to rent movies but I tend to buy, used, SciFi movies. I tend to rent the comedies. I like streaming for things like Dr Who. I already own most of the old classic movies that I enjoy. If I get Hulu+ I will stop my Netflix but I'm not at that point yet.

 

[0098386]

i guess if you're one of those people who turn their computers off every time they head to the bathroom...

It's very common nowadays for people to leave their computers running; the amount of power consumed when a computer is asleep is far less than the days of computers that didn't even have a sleep function and took up the better part of your office. My ATV even wakes my computer up whenever I select it to watch moves or listen to music.

0/10 for your troll attempt. Next time convince us that you only own a laptop and you don't feel like lugging it out to watch a movie.

Hostile much?

Do those free iTunes video downloads count towards these figures? I had never dealt with iTunes videos in the past until they handed out a free Father Ted episode, I thought I'd grab it to compare against my DVD. Yeah, not happy. Not when the DVD is either the same price or cheaper, and can be converted to played on a computer (at a higher quality, too).

For the reasons already mentioned in this thread I'll stick to physical media.

 

[G58]

Results such as this really demonstrate the value of Apple's infrastructure and multiple revenue streams. A healthy income from multiple services on a range of device types, ensures sufficient cash to reinvest over time. It gives companies confidence and allows them to make long term predictions, plan, and react to the market in advance and be there with the next big thing.

This is at the core of why Apple is successful, not the oft touted advertising or marketing, and especially not kool aid fueled fanboyism.

It's easy to be the organic bit in front of the screen and talk about how this affects me - now. But these numbers, and others like them, are the reason we have such great products and services, because they represent the invisible process that makes it all possible, and therefore why it happens.

Today, Apple drives not just the tech industry, but all smart industries globally. Those still playing the: 'multiple choice ranges - build them cheap - sell them quick' game are ultimately doomed.

Proof of this profound statement lies in the position of Microsoft today. 10 years after Gates' departure, they are on a spiral out of existence. Sure, an annual 6.3% gain here looks good - on paper, but that arguably modest result was achieved from a much larger number of units and users than Apple has.

So they should not only have gained more, but they should be well ahead. The fact that they're not, is because they failed to build the infrastructure. And starting now, by yet again following Apple's lead and then blatantly copying them, will be too little too late.

Another fascinating lesson.

 

[iPhoneCollector]

They forgot torrents

 

[alent1234]

as a streaming netflix user i will probably cancel it soon. the selection is crap and stuff my son watches is always being taken off due to the rights expiring.

i like the amazon model better than itunes because i can buy and not have to download the media. i can just stream it anytime i want. but the device selection is crap. why can't they sign a deal with sony to be on the PS3? or the x-box? there is no way i'll buy digital crap from zune, vudu or anyone except amazon or apple.

amazon is like slacker vs pandora. slacker is so much better than pandora but their management are idiots at running a business. pandora is beating them just because they are in so many devices

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Netflix is nice for the combination of DVD + streaming. For the price you can't beat it.

Of course the current generation of thieves our society has produced would disagree. Its all supposed to be free.

 

[Doctor Q]

How do they compare to Netflix though for streaming?

I've found them to be basically the same. I sometimes pick up the wrong remote because I don't rememer which I'm watching.

 

[BornAgainMac]

-You get the whole movie/TV episode. I've found Apple sometimes deletes some scenes or parts of scenes from movies & TV shows. Example: the punk on the bus scene from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (the whale one). Arguably the best scene in the whole movie gone!

They have that scene in my iTunes copy. Perhaps Apple corrected the mistake and just didn't issue a re-download order to the accounts they had the edited version.

I agree with you on the other stuff. DVDs have audio commentaries and extras that iTunes can't seem to match and the resale value of the DVD and so on. I have large video libraries on both iTunes and DVDs.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

as a streaming netflix user i will probably cancel it soon. the selection is crap and stuff my son watches is always being taken off due to the rights expiring.

I like iTunes rentals because I know there's always lots of first-run stuff there. Also, if I have a particular movie in mind, there's a reasonably high likelihood iTunes has it.

Netflix streaming is good for when I have no idea what I want to watch. There's lots of stuff to browse - but if I know exactly what I want to watch, it's *not* there. It's *never* there. Not once, ever. The encoding quality is all over the map, too. Half the movies have this annoying flicker artifact. I also don't like my video quality to suddenly change based on network conditions.