Divx Test Launch On Track For Late May With Fewer Titles
IF you have WSJ online you can see for yourself otherwise:
May 22, 1998
Divx Test Launch On Track For Late May With Fewer Titles
By ANTHONY PALAZZO and MARK YOST
Dow Jones Newswires
BUENA PARK, Calif. -- Divx, the rival movie-disk format to DVD, is on track for test-launches in
Richmond, Va., and San Francisco by the end of May, officials said. However, there won't be as many
titles available for the initial roll-out as previously envisioned.
The launch was delayed once earlier this month.
"We're working on getting a batch of titles through the process and on the store shelves," said Digital
Video Express LP spokesman Josh Dare. "I don't have a list (of titles) I can provide you with right now."
The Good Guys Inc. (GGUY) expects to have disks and players from Zenith Electronics Corp. (ZE) on
the shelves of 18 San Francisco Bay Area stores by the end of next week, said John Keating, merchandise
manager.
Executives involved in the launch had been predicting between 50 and 75 movies would be ready with the
first batch of Divx-enabled players. Dare said there probably won't be that many, but the titles that are
available will include some newer movie releases.
However many titles are available initially, Digital Video has the capacity to add up to 25 more titles each
week, Dare said. The number of titles "is something that is evolving now, and it will continue to evolve"
through a planned national launch in late summer or early fall, Dare said. Digital Video is a partnership
between electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC) and a Los Angeles law firm.
Dare said Divx is aiming to have 100 to 150 titles available on Divx by the national launch, and around 400
before the holiday season. By comparison, DVD already has some 500 titles available.
But the number of Divx titles may not be an issue, because Divx players can play both DVD and Divx
disks, said Steve Minkel, chief financial officer of Nimbus CD International Inc. (NMBS), which makes
both types of disks.
While some market experts are worried confusion may keep consumers away from both formats, Minkel
said there may be some customers who will buy Divx machines for their versatility even though there are
more DVD titles on the market.
"It doesn't matter what format 'Barney' is in," Minkel said. "Parents are going to buy it."
The Divx format is similar to DVD - a CD-sized disk with enough storage capacity to hold a movie. The
disks go through nearly the same manufacturing process, Minkel said, but Divx disks have serialization and
encryption built in.
These controls, and a telephone-line link built into the player, allow customers to buy disks for one-time
use and disposal, or pay higher fees for additional or unlimited viewings.
-Anthony Palazzo; 714-739-5538; tony.palazzo@cor.dowjones.com; and Mark Yost;
804-698-7385
have disks and players from Zenith Electronics Corp. (ZE)?
No one else would make them? Where does NMBS fit in? |
