Divx to hit Europe..........................................
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DVD Europe 1998 Launch Looks to Be in Trouble
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A couple of spanners have been thrown into the works of the planned European launch of DVD. In addition to the industry's failure to reach an agreement on several technical issues, it now looks likely that it will have a competitor when it finally does launch.
Divx - the pay-per-view system based on DVD technology - is to launch in Europe and its backers are talking with potential partners in France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, our sister publication Inside Multimedia (IM) has learned. The European launch is expected to occur on a country-by-country basis sometime in 1999.
When the concept was launched in the United States in September by Digital Video Express, it immediately provoked a vitriolic response from worried video store owners and ardent defenders of DVD.
Divx executives, however, profess to be shocked by the adverse publicity the project has engendered, telling IM that its timing - to release at the same time as DVD hitting the streets - was "unfortunate." They said the Divx concept was conceived long before DVD was even invented. They claim that they are merely trying to give the consumers a "better mousetrap," and bemoan the fact that when DVD fails to meet its lofty sales expectations this year then Divx will be used as the whipping boy.
The executives scoffed at the idea that their technology will undermine sales of DVD. They said Divx would be a complement to the VCR, not a replacement for it. They also laughed off the idea that retail video is an endangered species. They believe that the VCR will be around for the next 30 years and DVD will not slow or replace it. They also argue that their business model is more consumer friendly than open DVD - giving the single-view renter a lower priced product - albeit on a higher-priced player.
When Divx starts to roll out next Spring, the street price of Divx discs will be around $4.50, compared with rental of non-Divx discs at a likely $3.50. The attraction is that you get to keep the disc - you do not have to make that return trip to the rental store. Furthermore, you can view the disc anytime you want, on payment of an additional fee. |
