Will Apple TV Be a Death Knell for DVD Sales?

Are DVDs in trouble? Not at the moment it seems and maybe not for a long time.

In a story from Home Media Magazine, it seems the upcoming launch of Apple TV really has people wondering what the effect on DVD sales will be.

Afterall, this release is a major step in bringing consumers to a place where they could eventually receive most of their movies as downloads from the internet to watch on their TVs.

According to "Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Chris Whitmore" he feels that this new product from Apple "could generate upwards of $7 billion in incremental revenue for Apple by the end of the decade."

He went on to say that "it was conceivable Apple TV as early as 2009 could take 20% to 30% of the $25 billion DVD market."

Also, "Apple's iPod Video content deals with CBS Corp., Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox Entertainment and The Walt Disney Co., among others, could be easily transferred to Apple TV."

In addition to this, "Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research in Carmel, Calif., said consumer consumption of movies and TV show downloads from the Internet will surpass $4 billion in 2011, compared to $111 million in 2006."

As well, "Adams projects sales of video downloads will top $472 million this year and $1.8 billion in 2008. He says the market will really take off in 2010 with $3.1 billion in download revenue and $4.1 billion in 2011."

However, Adams feels the medium that will be hurt the most will not be DVDs but television viewing. "We don't expect sales and rentals of DVD to go into a steep decline," he stated.

Then he went on to say that "Once they buy into the idea of downloads, that should get people more comfortable with watching movies from the Internet."