If you’re looking for DVDs and Blu-Rays in 2024, your best buy may come somewhere other than Best Buy! That’s because the retail giant recently confirmed that they will be phasing out their DVD and Blu-Ray sales this year.
Rumblings had started to surface that Best Buy would be exiting the digital media landscape, with The Digital Bits first reporting in the fall talks that the retailer was planning to make the move. That was soon followed by a statement from Best Buy to Variety that read, “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.”
It was initially revealed that Best Buy would continue selling movies and TV shows in the physical formats through the end of the 2023 holiday shopping season, but planned on discontinuing sales of DVDs and Blu-Rays in 2024, though video games would still be available in physical formats.
This would be the latest blow for fans of the DVD and Blu-Ray format, with Netflix recently opting out of continuing their physical DVD service earlier in 2023. But, as Variety reports, retailers such as Walmart, Target and online e-tailer Amazon still continue to carry DVD and Blu-Ray. In addition, Redbox still offers physical discs through their 29,000 DVD rental kiosks.
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As Digital Bits revealed, the Best Buy move appears to have been anticipated by some, as Paramount in particular had begun to shift their Blu-Ray and 4K Steelbook titles from Best Buy to Amazon, and it appears as though other studios will follow suit.
The Best Buy move comes as the market for digital media continues to shrink. For the first half of 2023, trade organization DEG reported that U.S. physical media revenue dropped 28 percent, down to $754 million after the $1.05 billion the previous year.
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