Consumer Spending on Home Entertainment Up, Blu-ray Catalog Sales Rise 26%

Consumer spending on home entertainment was up approximately 1.4% in the first six months this year. The growth is attributed to a variety of factors, including Blu-ray disc sales, as well as VOD and electronic sellthrough. Total consumer spending topped $8.4 billion compared to $8.3 billion last year, according to the DEG (The Digital Entertainment Group).

Blu-ray sales were once again impressive, especially in the catalog end of the business, where sales grew 26%.

The number of Blu-ray homes continued to rise as well, with 1.4 million Blu-ray Disc players (inclusive of BD set-tops, PS3s and HTiBs,) sold in the second quarter, bringing the total household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices to more than 42.1 million U.S. homes.

Additionally, according to the DEG more than 4.6 million HDTVs were sold to U.S. consumers in second quarter 2012; HDTV penetration to date is nearly 80 million U.S. households.