More US households now own DVD players (81.2% of all households) than VCRs (79.2% of households), according to a new report from Nielsen Media Research.
The 3rd Quarter Home Technology Report also shows ownership of most media technology trending up from previous years, which could continue to climb as Christmas approaches.
As of third quarter 2006, DVD penetration in the US is up 6% from the previous year and continues to grow, while VCR penetration has started a decline.
In 1999 when Nielsen first started tracking DVD ownership in its Home Tech Report, DVD penetration was only 6.7% and was dwarfed by VCR ownership at 88.6%.
Paul Lindstrom, senior vice president of custom research for Nielsen Media Research, said: “This study shows the culmination of a long battle for share of consumers.
“Nielsen clients have used information from our Home Tech Report for the past decade to trend the changes in penetration and report use of new devices as they infiltrate the marketplace, and we now see that the popularity of DVDs has finally surpassed that of VCRs.”
In addition, the research reveals that 73.4% of US homes currently have a computer in the household, and homes with children and teens are more likely to have a home computer.
There is a large difference in the percentage of lower income homes vs. higher income homes that own a home computer. Homes with an income over $60K are 50% more likely to own a home computer than homes with an income below $60K.
Nielsen adds that 95.4% of consumers with internet access go online at least once a week, and 37.3% of internet users go online more than once a day. 78.2% of online users have made purchases over the internet. 46.8% of online users (ages 12+) have used the internet to download and play music from the internet.
Earlier in the year, a forecast from Screen Digest said that by 2010 just under 30 million households in the US, Europe and Japan will have acquired a standalone hi-def disc player or recorder (see Blu-ray And HD DVD To Battle For Market Dominance).
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