While the game industry has struggled to get gamers to adopt 3D games, the global 3D movie business continues to take off.
The global 3D consumer market is thriving in a dynamic environment marked by clear and discernible growth across its major platforms, including cinema, home video and pay TV video on demand, with international markets continuing to make major contributions to the industry, according to an IHS Screen Digest Cross Platform Intelligence report from information and analytics provider IHS.
Worldwide metrics are on the rise for 3D technology as a whole. The number of 3-D screens is up fourfold over a period of three years, while 3D box office climbed in the double digits from 2010 to 2011. The 3D home video market is also showing strong growth, bucking the overall trend of a declining physical video market, with U.S spending on Blu-ray 3D nearly doubling in 2012 from last year’s levels. More 3D TV channels worldwide are likewise now available, including one just launched in China, with plenty of potential for expansion in the years ahead for 3D Video-on-Demand service.
The attached figure illustrates the strides made by the 3D consumer market in the United States in particular, in which the principal metric used for tracking is consumer spending.
“In an age where consumers have at their easy disposal a virtual treasure trove of entertainment options to draw from, the encouraging growth of the 3D medium is remarkable to behold,” said Tony Gunnarsson, analyst for video at IHS Screen Digest. “The continuing expansion of the industry is especially significant when one considers that 3D is but a small niche of overall digital viewing, and that consumers have to shell out considerably more money for 3D products, which are priced at a premium and not necessarily an easy sell in these economically uncertain times.”
