2013 was a solid year for the home entertainment industry, as consumer spending across all home entertainment platforms increased by nearly 1 percent—the second straight year of growth.
Electronic sell-through, also known as digital HD, continued to show promise, as sales surpassed $1 billion for the first time in 2013. Additionally, the number of digital sell-through transactions among home entertainment buyers increased 20 percent, and transactions for subscription streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) increased by 10 and 6 percent, respectively.
Retail spending on discs remained strong, indicating that physical and digital formats will continue to coexist in the marketplace. While overall disc unit sales were down 6 percent from the previous year, sales of movies and TV shows on Blu-ray continued to help offset the decline in DVD sales. Sales of Blu-ray disc grew by 7 percent and accounted for 20 percent of total disc sales, up from 18 percent the previous year.