Okay, I give up. How, exactly, is Disney losing money on iTunes? They have zero overhead. All they do is collect a check from Apple. Now, you might make the argument that they aren't making as much money as they could by dumping iTunes and only selling via DVD. But, if you did that, you would still be wrong.
While iTunes undoubtedly takes away from a few DVD sales, you have to look at a number of other factors. First, again, is the zero overhead. There is no per unit production cost. Second, the majority of Disney's sales for DVDs come through retail outlets. Figure that the wholesale price is about 50% - or less - than the retail price. That, minus overhead, is roughly how much Disney makes per DVD.
There's another factor than people often ignore with regard to digital sales via iTunes. I am really surprised that the media executives are so hostile to iTunes. Because iTunes is so proprietary, that means that if someone were to purchase a different media player that was not compatible with their content, they would be out of luck and forced to purchase another copy - something the media executives just LOVE for consumers to be forced to do.
So, while Disney may lose a few sales in the short term, I believe they'll do nothing but benefit in the long term.
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My mother taught me that every penny counts.
Your mother's wrong. In fact, the treasury keeps trying to get rid of the penny.
Furthermore, with all the development & other related costs Disney might actually be losing money on the iTunes project at this point.
Okay, I give up. How, exactly, is Disney losing money on iTunes? They have zero overhead. All they do is collect a check from Apple. Now, you might make the argument that they aren't making as much money as they could by dumping iTunes and only selling via DVD. But, if you did that, you would still be wrong.
While iTunes undoubtedly takes away from a few DVD sales, you have to look at a number of other factors. First, again, is the zero overhead. There is no per unit production cost. Second, the majority of Disney's sales for DVDs come through retail outlets. Figure that the wholesale price is about 50% - or less - than the retail price. That, minus overhead, is roughly how much Disney makes per DVD.
There's another factor than people often ignore with regard to digital sales via iTunes. I am really surprised that the media executives are so hostile to iTunes. Because iTunes is so proprietary, that means that if someone were to purchase a different media player that was not compatible with their content, they would be out of luck and forced to purchase another copy - something the media executives just LOVE for consumers to be forced to do.
So, while Disney may lose a few sales in the short term, I believe they'll do nothing but benefit in the long term.