Thought this might put a little light on things to develope..
Friday June 21, 2:42 pm Eastern Time
Circuit City to Phase Out VHS Movies in Favor of DVDs
A Wall Street Journal Online News Roundup
RICHMOND , Va. -- Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation's second-largest consumer-electronics chain, is phasing out movies on videotape altogether in favor of digital videodiscs, or DVDs, etc
Some of the retailer's stores already have cleared their shelves of all VHS movies. However, the company, whose tracking stock is Circuit City Group , said it will continue to sell VHS movies on its Web site, and stock blank tapes and videocassette recorders in its more than 600 stores.
"The people who are buying movie titles these days want to buy them on DVD," Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb said Friday. "People have embraced the technology in a big way, and we're responding to that by increasing the space given to DVD titles."
The No. 2 electronics retailer -- Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News) Co . is the largest -- has no timetable for eliminating VHS tapes from all of its stores, Mr. Babb said.
Some say Circuit City's move is premature. About 90% of U.S. households have at least one VCR, while only about 30% have a DVD player, said Charles Van Horn, president of the International Recording Media Association, a trade group based in Princeton , N.J. "Circuit City will disappoint the 60% of consumers who have a VCR but no DVD," he said.
One aspect of the VCR that still appeals to many people is that it can record television programs and play back prerecorded movies. Not many DVD players can do both of those things, and the ones that can generally do so clumsily.
While the DVD player is "the fastest-growing video product ever," it will take time to catch up with the VCRs, Mr. Van Horn added. Even after it does catch up, the two products will coexist in most homes for years to come, he said.
Mr. Van Horn said other retailers are trimming their VHS movie inventory to make room for more DVDs, just as music stores cut back on music cassettes to expand their compact disc, or CD, selection. He added, however, that he doesn't expect other retailers to phase out VHS tapes any time soon.
In September, video-rental giant Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) announced that it would take total charges of about $450 million against second-half earnings as it slashes the value of its videotape inventory.
It seems to be only a matter of time before DVD will dominate the industry.
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