Home CD-players are loosing their spark and are slowly falling prey to the growing popularity of the DVD-player. This news will of course not come as a surprise since DVD-players are getting cheaper and can function as both a movie and a music disc player:
Last week, among other hot promotions for the official start to the holiday shopping crush, Wal-Mart flaunted a $48 DVD player while Best Buy Co. Inc. -- the No. 1 U.S. specialty consumer electronics merchant -- said it had an even cheaper DVD player at $39. The first electronic device to fall victim to the unceasing DVD rage was the video cassette player. |
Analysts and retailers say consumers are also increasingly losing interest on stand-alone home CD players since the equipment makers are now opting to build all-in-one DVD machines to cut costs. Some video gaming machines such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2, can play DVDs as well as compact discs.
But with the music industry in the doldrums and Internet piracy seemingly unstoppable, consumers have little reason to continue spending on stand-alone CD players, analysts said. Even though CD-player prices have been falling just as fast as Hollywood has been churning out its blockbuster movies on DVDs, very little is seen saving the CD player from biting the dust.
The DVD-player has had an explosive growth since its introduction in 1997. It's estimated that DVD-players have made their way to about 30 percent of U.S. households. According to analysts that makes the DVD-player the fastest-adopted technology in recent history.
Source: Reuters
