How quickly will DVD become established?
Not as fast as generally predicted, but faster than videotape, laserdisc, and CD. By the end of 1997 over 500,000 DVD-Video players shipped worldwide. 349,482 of these were in the US (with about 200,000 actually sold into homes). About ?? DVD video titles were available worldwide, with ?? million copies shipped. About 600 DVD video titles were available in the US, with over 5 million copies shipped and about 2 million sold. Around 330,000 DVD-ROM drives were shipped worldwide with about 1 million bundled DVD-ROM titles. Only 60 DVD-ROM titles were available by the end of 1997, most of them bundled with PCs or drive upgrade kits. Here are some predictions: • Toshiba (1996): 100,000 to 150,000 DVD-Video players will be sold in Japan between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 1996, and 750,000-1 million by Nov. 1, 1997. (Actual count of combined shipments by Matsushita, Pioneer, and Toshiba was 70,000 in Oct-Dec 1996.) • Pioneer (1996): 400,000 DVD-Video players in 1996, 11 million by 2000. 100,000 DVD-
