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Technology Stocks : The Learning Company (TLC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bulldozer who wrote (5154)	7/23/1998 5:33:00 PM
From: Carmine Cammarosano	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6318

Did sales increase 44%? That is a great #!!!!

To: Bulldozer who wrote (5154)	7/23/1998 8:53:00 PM
From: Not a Short	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6318

6. DVD is coming on and will reduce costs further - example..this year they will be shipping a Nat Geo 109 yr history collection on 30 CDs. Next year with DVD, this will only take 4 DVDs DVD is already here as far as TLC is concerned (10-20 titles already) but I guess you mean it will get bigger. I wouldn't say it reduces costs much. DVD blank discs cost much more than CD blanks do. If TLC paid .50 per CD for mastering 30 CDs and $2.00 per for mastering 4 DVDs then the savings is $7. These are pure guesses, I have no actual numbers so prove me wrong if you can. DVD titles generally sell for higher prices than CDs sometimes as much as 4 times the CD price. With this in mind I would say that DVD titles are more profitable but I wouldn't spend much time thinking about cost. It is so close to even it isn't a factor. Keep in mind the titles do have to have to be recompiled in some cases, index files redone in all cases where the original product spanned multiple CDs, the new product must go through testing and quality assurance again. After all of that the packaging must be redone, new SKUs created, retail shelf space must be allocated, warehouse stock must be filled and kept. All in all I'd say that makes the new title equal to or more expensive than the old title but very close in total cost. 2. New development costs of some titles are 20% less than previous years due to engine re-use All in all DVDs and lower development costs are a plus for TLC but remember that TLC will still have to compete with CD, MSFT, GT interactive, etc. As the profits increase on DVDs due to increased sales of DVDs the price is likely to drop in kind. DVDs will be more profitable than CDs for some time to come but won't be a windfall.