While the game industry has struggled to get gamers to adopt 3D games, the global 3D movie business continues to take off.
3D home video defies overall down trend of physical video market
In the 3D home-video segment, the U.S. continues to make up the largest market for Blu-ray 3D (BD 3D), equivalent to 51 percent of global BD 3D spending. And while both value and volume for traditional physical video are decreasing, BD 3D is an exception to the trend, with forecasts showing strong growth even out to 2016. Spending by U.S. consumers on the medium is up 94 percent this year from 2011 levels, to $220 million, with BD 3D unit sales set to climb 105 percent, to 9.9 million units.
“Despite the relatively small market for BD 3D, the format plays an important role for overall physical video,” Gunnarsson noted. “BD 3D is already being marketed as the ultimate home video experience, and studios are pricing 3D home video well above Blu-ray 2D versions.”
Growth is also forecast for the BD 3D home-video market in the three big European markets of the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Trends in 3D Broadcast and VoD show promise
A total of 37 unique dedicated 3D channels have been launched worldwide since 2010, plus another 38 dedicated 3D event broadcasts. Nonetheless, 3D TV launches slowed considerably in 2012, due to uncertainty about investing in, and maintaining, dedicated linear 3D channels. On the plus side were the positive developments on programming, such as the formation of 3Net, a joint venture among Sony, Imax and Discovery to focus on 3D output including documentaries and other niche genres.
Some pay-TV operators have also sought to provide 3D movies on a Video-on-Demand basis. Movies and documentaries—not live or original content—are the basis for 3D VoD, but the overall limited slate as well as the higher price of 3D video-on-demand (VoD) movies—as much as 30 percent over HD titles—may serve to discourage some consumers from adopting the service in the short term.
Even so, the 3D VoD market will overcome such obstacles in the years ahead. U.S. consumers, for instance, will spend $76.1 million for 3D VoD by 2016, up from $11.1 million this year. European viewers, meanwhile, will fork out $32.4 million, compared to just $3.5 million during the same period.
