February 1, 2007 - Hollywood studios are under increasing pressure to join Apple's digital download service thanks to the 1.3 million films sold on iTunes since the inception of its service in October of last year. The Financial Times reports that other studios have resisted Apple's lead, partly because of fears of upsetting leading DVD retailers Target and Wal-Mart who have expressed concerns that movie downloads are cutting into their DVD sales.
Downloads of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and and Cars drove Disney movie sales past the million mark with TV shows accounting for a cool 20 million downloads. Disney's announcement comes just as the media industry is preparing for a DVD slowdown, which analysts are predicting will happen this year.
Now I'm as much a tech lover as the next guy, but there's just something more satisfying about opening that DVD to check out the cover artwork and to enjoy extra features. I'm sad to see DVDs go the way of the vinyl LP.
