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Best Buy, the American consumer electronics company, will phase out sales of in-store and online DVDs and Blu-ray discs in early 2024, according to the initial decision announced in October 2023.
The multinational corporation confirmed that it is ending sales of DVDs. As per Variety, a spokesperson said back in October,
"To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago. Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover, and enjoy."
The company has not confirmed what the new technological devices will be. Netizens online have expressed their disappointment over the announcement, believing it to be the end of an era.
Best Buy confirms it will no longer sell DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs
Best Buy has announced that they will soon stop selling DVDs and Blu-ray after deciding in October to close the two iconic sections of their stores. The decision was made due to the shift in the way consumers are watching movies and TV shows.
With the prevalence of accessible streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney Hotstar, Apple TV+, etc., customers have started to purchase less and less physical DVDs. Thus, due to the decrease in demand, Best Buy has decided to upgrade its shelves according to the needs of the present generation, as per The US Sun.
As of mid-2023, Best Buy had 1,129 store locations, with 969 of those in the United States. They have not specified a particular date for the discontinuation of DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The move leaves Walmart, Amazon, and Target among the top retailers that would still sell them in 2024, as per Variety.
Consumers may not be surprised if they have visited Best Buy's physical stores recently, as the retailer has kept moving and shrinking the disc aisles in the past few years. Following the release of the news, netizens aired their opinion, announcing their displeasure with the cancellation of the classic physical DVDs.
The move comes as Netflix's DVD-by-mail service shipped out its last physical copies to customers on September 29 and let the customers choose if they wanted to keep their final discs.
As per data from trade association DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, the revenue from physical media in the U.S. has seen a 28 percent decline, totaling $754 million in the first half of 2023. In comparison, $1.05 billion in revenue was recorded in 2022. Best Buy's sales in the second quarter of 2023 were down 6.3 percent, and the online sales fell 7.1 percent.
Walmart, however, has been in talks with DVD distributor Studio Distribution Services (SDS), a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. They want to assume management of portions of its physical media operations, Variety reported this summer.
