Good sign for Blu? Blu-ray theft on the rise

I'm betting The Dark Knight was the most popular stolen disc.

It's never good news that your products are being stolen, except maybe if you're selling Blu-ray. Video Business has an excellent story on rising theft of Blu-ray Discs, and how retailers are taking action to stop it. According to the article, the percentage of stolen Blu-ray Discs compared to total sales could be in the double digits, where the same statistic for DVDs is around 1.5 percent. The article also mentions that retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart are storing the discs in special security cases to make them more difficult to steal.

It's not that surprising that Blu-ray discs are popular with thieves, given their small size and relatively high price. Of course, the reason it's good news for Blu-ray is that it means that people actually want Blu-ray Discs, regardless of whether the thieves are keeping the discs or selling them. The most persistent argument against Blu-ray is that consumers just don't care about the new technology, and this seems to be another data point indicating that's not the case.

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[tipoo_]

Uh, that's, umm....good?

[sobishop]

"Of course, the reason it's good news for Blu-ray is that it means that people actually want Blu-ray Discs, regardless of whether the thieves are keeping the discs or selling them."

I'm pretty sure people who steal products do not fall in the category of "consumers". The problem with blu-ray is that you have to get a new player ($200-$300) a new TV that can utilize 1080p ($1500 to $2000) and the discs ($15-$20 more than their DVD counterparts). People don't have that kind of expendable income right now.

[W1gglesnarf]

cant argue with that logic

[umbrae]

This only means BR is over-priced. Theft from stores like Target and Walmart means that kids are stealing these to play on their PS3 because they cannot afford then and their parents aren't willing to pay the premium. I doubt this means anything good for Blu-Ray; its just means copying them has not hit mainstream.

DVD theft is low because it is much easier to rent a DVD and copy it then stuff it in your pants at Walmart.

[sobishop]

"Theft from stores like Target and Walmart means that kids are stealing these to play on their PS3 because they cannot afford then..."

That was a completely asinine statement. All this means is that thieves still need to buy their drugs.

[ggabyt]

Another story about the "failure" of Bu-ray? It's outselling standard DVD at the same point in it's lifecycle. Where do you get the info from?

[exploreRPG]

Odd.. Since when can a THIEF be considered as a part of the consumer market? The fact that one steals the item, doesn't and has *never* equated to a business PLUS. People steal cars, will that keep Honda, & GM from going under?

Bottom line.. people love new technology. But nobody wants to pay the high-price they are asking for very little improvement over DVDs quality.

The industry is really grasping at straws with this one. LOL.

Also note.. The statistic as presented are misleading. (double digit BluRay stolen as compared to sales) where (DVD is 1.5 percent.) LOL if BluRay only sold 10 a month, its really easy to achieve a double-digit percentage.

Being that DVDs are *everywhere* a 1.5 percent being stolen is considerably an *enormous* amount of DVDs. (BluRay was & is dead before it got started.)

[sweaty_taco]

"very little improvement over DVDs quality".

Not sure if you have a blu-ray or not, but I do and I for one can attest that the quality of blu-ray far exceeds dvd. Especially on newer movies such as Batman, Ironman, etc.

Are they worth paying a premium for? Hell no. That is why I use Netflix to rent movies.

[Shaun822]

BR has exceedingly better quality than DVD, even on a 720p television. Anyone that says you need to have a full 1080p TV to see the difference is either a) a BR hater or b) has never seen it on a TV. BR is also outselling DVD for the same point of life-cycle. That means that if DVD at 2 years in was not as popular as BR 2 years in and it is now the dominant format. In a couple years BR will be the dominant format as ISPs continue to clamp down on bandwith restrictions instead of improving networks, the production costs reduce, and more people are pretty much forced into buying HDTV's as their old CRT televisions die off.

[Balloonknot]

The vast majority of consumers don't care...Blu-ray is dying...interesting article and it makes for a fun topic of conversation but the writing is on the wall.

It is my opinion that Blu-ray has about as much viability as DVD currently does. Reason:

Many, if not most people who still purchase physical copies of movies don't care about the difference in video quality enough to upgrade.

Blu-ray suffers from the same disadvantage as DVD...it's inconvenient compared to the intstant alternatives. DVD was such a success because it offered convenience in addition to better quality and storage capacity. They were smaller and you didn't have to rewind, complete with chapter selection. Any reasonable person would appreicate that. But Blu-ray's are essentially identical to DVD's in that way. Instantly downloadable video (whether it's through Netflix, Blockbuster, iTunes or your local cable provider) is a huge jump in convenience akin to that of DVD over VHS. The argument that you cannot beat the video quality of Blu-ray, while accurate (for now), doesn't make a difference to those who can't tell the difference between an HD movie on cable and a Blu-ray or don't care. I believe this is the case with most people.

Even if the initial adoption rate for Blu-ray is similar to that of DVD, it is not necessarily a good indicator of Blu-ray's success. I would imagine that the same category of consumers (techies and early adopters, of which I am one) are the same people in both cases. The difference this time around, I believe, is that it will end with this group for the most part. Whereas DVD eventually took off across the general consumer base, Blu-ray will not.

That said, Blu-ray could be around for some time. Partly because of the investment behind it, partly because there are enough of people who do care about minute differences in video quality enough to purchase Blu-ray discs.

But instant is on the upswing and will only continue to grow exponentially until it's the norm.

[hafenbrack]

what would you call an "instant" alternative? I have yet to see a streaming video with the quality of DVD or especially Blu-Ray that you don't have to "wait" for. Versus popping in the disc and instantly watching what you want.

[cnrfallon]

By instant do you mean 3 hour download?

[Balloonknot]

Maybe I have exceptionally fast internet in my area (Philly) but I never wait more than a few seconds for anything to start, Netflix (via 360) or Comcast...HD no less. But I understand that is not the case for everyone. This will only improve in all areas which in turn will only hurt physical media (i.e. Blu-ray) even more. Also, part of my point was that quality isn't as important as convenience for alot of people. For most, the quality of video from Netflix or Comcast is more than sufficient.

In fact, my Netflix movies start alot faster than my Blu-rays do via PS3 which can take 10-20 seconds, not counting the time it takes to get the box...take the disc out of the box...put it in the player...hit the appropriate buttons...

And my Netflix queue is always full of movies, over 100 sometimes. Only 1 disc fits into my PS3 at once as far as I know.

Annnnnnddddd...I really don't want to own most of the movies I watch...or wait 2 days for the mail...or drive to Blockbuster on a cold winter night with a couple of noisy kids in tow...

I DO appreciate the video qualityof BR...but the convenience far outweighs any difference in quality. And I'll wager that'll be the case with most people. Until, of course, the quality and speed of "instant" greatly improves at which point BR will really be dead.

[Kendokill]

Balloonknot: "In fact, my Netflix movies start alot faster than my Blu-rays do via PS3 which can take 10-20 seconds, not counting the time it takes to get the box...take the disc out of the box...put it in the player...hit the appropriate buttons... "

What the heck? Why is this even a part of the discussion?

Balloonknot: "I DO appreciate the video qualityof BR"

No you don't, you appreciate saving 5 seconds and avoiding pushing 2 extra buttons...at most...if any.

Balloonknot: "...but the convenience far outweighs any difference in quality."

Perhaps it does to some, however, I own HD components and systems so using those components to their full potential is what is most important to me.

Streaming video IS the future, however for movies that I love, nothing beats owning a hard copy that I can bring anywhere with me that isn't burned. Saved copies of a movie on an x-box or ps3 hard drive have unknown futures as we don't know if they'll be available on the future systems. Streamed content is stuck on the system it is dowloaded onto, and is more of a pain to copy onto DVD, and copies won't be HD quality, or even good SD quality.

[sweaty_taco]

I have Netflix and a blu-ray player and comparing an HD movie on cable vs. Blu-ray is totally laughable. There is no comparison at all.
Netflix instant movies are good if your system (xbox 360, Roku, etc) is plugged into a fast network, but if you are watching it from your computer, then it's totally limited (movie selection wise) and really a waste, unless you are the only one watching the movie on your laptop/desktop.
Sorry, but your arguments are weak.

[Dragoniies]

"Minute differences" you watch Dark Knight on DVD and then on Blu-ray and tell me you don't see the difference. Even on an upconvert DVD player it does not look half as good as true 1080p.

[jerrios]

i doubt streaming video is ever the future unless bandwith gets expanded which would take major investments by cable such as comcast. In the economic environment we are currently i doubt that happens. that popularity of blue will only increase as more people purchase new TVs.

[M5er]

I'm waiting for what's after Blu-ray, unless prices go WAY down.

[Kendokill]

Prices ARE way down. Just don't buy at stores unless they're having some sort of sale.

[Notoapplefanbois]

I was more amazed that the companies hadn't thought of having the disks behind the counter and when someone buys them then the cashier puts the disk in the box like. This method has been adopted in the UK and probably more places so it's not like it hasn't been used before.

[sobishop]

Stores are not gonna dedicate more "real estate" to a $30 product. All they need to do is lock them up in a glass case like everything else in the Wal-Mart electronics department.

[heygeo]

all this means is that the media is too new to have professional pirates bootlegging copies of blu-rays enmasse... if blu-ray survives the next 2 years then no one will stealing them as their prices will need to come down to make it more attractive to buy versus buy pirate copies.. but it wont matter anyway because you wont be watching movies that way anyway.. you'll be downloading them directly from netflix or BBuster...

[dbcooper13]

It is a good sign. Statistically half of these thieves sell these products to others and the other half use it themselves. Stealing the $60 video games is easy as well. Places like wal-mart and target have associates working for next to minimum wage and get almost no training. Lost Prevention is about the same. But theft for entertainment products is down in most stores nationwide since 2000.

[spectator1]

I agree Blu Ray will become another DVD on the shelf that will be reduce to a few dollar for people that helded on to Blu Ray the same as the people who helded on to VHS tape players. I will be dropping premium cable channels this month as I ready my self for the broadband TV?s or I may decide to get the Xbox package and stream. Either way Blu Ray and the cable companies will be the loser unless they act now to maintain there loyal customer base in the future. I am guessing they will not its all about greed and the dollar.
Blu Ray will become another VHS tape player. I am surprise Blu Ray and all the other investors did not see this coming.

[theoboley]

I am "Surprise" at your utter lack of spelling prowess and punctuation. Type, Read, Re-Read and then submit to avoid looking like a total fool.

[garshu]

'Nother question: How long has it been since VHS was introduced? How long since the victory over BetaMax? Beta only conceded in 1988, and DVD was introduced in 1997; however, by 1981, Beta was only 25% of sales. That gave VHS... 16 years essentially. DVD was introduced in 1997, it's 2009, and so that's 12 years... since it was invented. It took a few years to take dominance, so DVD is at... 10 years? Or less? So: trying to make people change now, especially after they changed their collections once, doesn't seem practical for most people. The fact that they changed their collections once is different: people might change once, especially with the promise of movies that don't degrade. However, changing a second time without a compelling difference (more on that next) takes it from the realm of changing formats for an eternal solution, to becoming a trend. Especially with harsher economic realities, and the fact that DVD had distinct advantages no matter what equipment it was played on, whereas Blu-ray only has such on 1080p devices- meaning, for laptop playback/portable dvd playback, kid entertainment, and other mobile viewing needs, which is an increasingly important segment, Blu-ray offers no advantages.

In short, Blu-ray might succeed, but it definitely makes ME leery of ever building a movie collection that isn't either me owning original 35mm film, so as to watch "just like in theaters in the 2000's" or digital content, preferably with a cheaper "upgrade quality" where I pay a smaller rate to up the quality than completely re-buying the movie. Things like rebuying movies you already own many times leads to frustration with the purveyors...

[DaveMcLain]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't ALL Blu Ray players backward compatible with regular DVD's and CD's? If so won't it just be a matter of time before ALL the players on the market are Blu-Ray? Why not?

I think Blu-Ray will succeed one way or another just by default as people gradually replace old players over time. I have had use a Roku box to watch movies and it works well but it seems that it's going to take a long time before over the net solutions can rival Blu-Ray for quality. I think it'll happen but it's going to be a while especially in rural areas and the like.

[dddouchebag]

Increased theft COULD mean more popularity, which is probably a part of the equation. However, smaller markets tend to have inflated % numbers just because "random" events like stolen merchandise don't always follow a set ratio. For example, if a Walmart had 10k dvds and 1k bds, if a thief breaks in and grabs 500 dvds and bds each, that's a 5% hit on dvds, but a 50% hit on bds. This is an extreme example, but it does illustrate the limited utility of percentages.

On the other hand, this is why reading a list of top 10 most stolen cars is pointless. Usually, the top two spots are taken by accords and camrys, but that is only because the list is ranked on total number of cars stolen. Of course the most popular car will be the one most stolen, and the list says nothing about the security of owning that car. In this case, we want to know what percentage of each type of car is stolen, and we would now have a similar problem as blu-ray when it comes to the more rare cars.

The point of all of this is, we can take numbers and twist them to say whatever we want, and usually the person doing the twisting is trying to sell you something. So be forever doubtful.

[eeow]

If I was a chicken....which part of me is the nugget ?

[hblauer]

On the original article; I would guess it's a good sign (sort of) that more Blu-Ray discs are being stolen. Generally means usage is up. Of course the nest question would be if for resale or personnel use. If for resale (drug money?) then somebody who can use it will buy, if for personnel use then they already have a player. I remember how easy it was to steal audio cassettes when first introduced and cost was high. Special packaging was developed to make it harder to steal. Probably have to do the same for discs of all kinds if losses get to high.

[MongooseProXC]

The only people who can afford them are the theives who steal them. Price them properly or keep them.

[bearvp]

The in-store prices on Blu-rays are pretty ridiculous, even at stores like Sam's Club and Costco. Just be a smart consumer and buy from Amazon.com since they have daily sales and much better normal prices than any store-based retailer I have found.

[dirty55409]

lol since when does theft equal demand?????? This is a retarded article in the first place. Thieves steal a lot of other things and those aren't seen as "high in demand".

[M5er]

The REAL problem with blu-ray right now is that people, for the most part, don't care about it. Women don't care about HD. Kids don't care about HD. The elderly don't care about HD.

It's expensive for the average person to get a blu-ray setup; You need a 1080p TV, a blu-ray player, an HD connection and blu-ray media, at the very least.

That leaves technologically savvy men, ages 18-40, with cash to burn, as the only demographic that really CARES about high-definition anything.

As far as the blu-ray theft, the reality is that you can skew statistics to say anything that you want to hear. I don't own blu-ray. I know several people who don't care about it at all. I know several people who do care about it, and own PS3s or blu-ray players. Those who do have blu-ray players only have maybe less than 5 movies, mostly because they are costly to buy. They rent blu-rays through Netflix. The market will sort everything out, as usual. Personally, I think that blu-ray is a few years ahead of its time. Until blu-ray burners, blank media, and recorded media is less costly, I'm out.