Netflix announces it will dump DVD sales

by Stevie Smith - Nov 5 2008, 16:30

Choosing to play to its obvious strengths while also shuffling focus ever-closer to the emerging digital distribution marketplace, online movie and TV provider Netflix has this week announced it is abandoning its DVD sell-through business in order to centre its efforts on DVD rental and online streaming.

“Our core business is delivering great movie rentals to you on DVD by mail and instantly to the computer and TV,” explained a Netflix spokesperson via an official company blog post. “So we’ve decided it makes sense for us to focus exclusively on that.”

According to Netflix, customers looking to purchase physical DVDs will only be able to do so until November 30, after which time rental and streaming will be the only viewing options on offer to them.

While Netflix might be actively adjusting its market positioning to better suit a future in digital distribution, The Washington Post reports that resulting user comments beneath the blog post suggest some Netflix customers are displeased with the decision.

Specifically, some have said they are concerned that the dropping of DVD sales will eventually lead to the dropping of DVD rentals too, which is the foundation of popularity the company is built on.

Perhaps compounding that worry, Netflix content streaming is already gaining traction with those customers armed with Windows PC systems, and Netflix last week expanded the umbrella of its streaming service to cover those using Apple Mac computers.

Although the long-term business plan for Netflix may very well be centred on digital distribution, the rise of Blu-ray would at least suggest such a shift is some way off, which is a possibility recently strengthened by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings who pointed to the importance of Blu-ray to the company’s future.

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