Disney Sells 125,000 Movies on iTunes

By the Betanews Staff | Published September 20, 2006, 2:31 PM

With just 75 movies on the iTunes Music Store, Walt Disney disclosed Tuesday it had sold 125,000 videos in just the first week of operation, netting the company $1 million in revenue. Disney, which owns Walt Disney Pictures as well as Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, said it expects to make $50 million off the venture in just the first year of operation.

Due to disagreements over pricing, other studios have passed over the ITunes movie store in favor of other services with more flexible pricing structures, such as temporary rentals. However, Disney's success could spur others to set aside their differences. Movies are available from iTunes for $9.99, except new releases, which are $12.99 in the first week and $14.99 thereafter.

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Unless you have your computer hooked up to a very large LCD are sitting on your couch and have a wireless keyboard and mouse I don't see the appeal. Who wants to sit in front of a computer monitor unless it's on your laptop and your traveling?

I am sure a very very overwhelming majority do not have that system config. Therefore, what is the point? You can buy a nice DVD with a case and at that quality for that price. Then you can copy it to your computer and do whatever you want with it. Put it on a ipod, psp whatever. Better yet rent them from blockbuster.com or whatever. If it's a classic you love you shouldn't be buying it in digital format anyway right?

I also find it rather humorous that all other companies are complaining about losing money yet they won't submit to a itunes download service and Disney made a million dollars off it in the first week? That's 50 million a year, for nothing except to offer another way to sell your content.

Oh well what can you do right?

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"$12.99 in the first week and $14.99 thereafter."

Bet the servers get a hammering in the first week then.

Dont know about everyone else but that seams pricy compared to a DVD, so unless its a new film unavaiable to buy on DVD then i dont think its worth it. First thing i would want to do is burn a backup, and id rather have the DVD with all the extra's and rip it to PC than download it and have an inferiour downloaded version with probable DRM and such.

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so what? the movies are crap anyways.

watched couple minutes of "fantastic 4" yesterday - here is the answer why movie sales are lugging right there . it's not the pirates, it's that even dumbest people realize how low the quality is fallen and refuse to pay moey for it.

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Being crap has nothing to do with it, its all about choise. If you dont want to own it then its not for you. If dumb people but it then it will appeal right to them, but thats another story.

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Thank you, finally someone gets it. In an entire year there might be 2 or 3 good movies actually worth watching, that is just sad.

And remember when Apple use to be a computer store??? Those were the good old days. LOL :-)

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there is plenty of good movies to watch. there are independent and small movie studios out there besides holywood crap. obviously those are not sold in best buy.

unfortunally most of the time it involves reading subtitles as those european and asian makers are failing to aknowledge that US is the center of the world and not considerate to a average lasy american such as myself to make english speaking movies.

need to learn german, french, norwegian, suomi, japaniese, greek ,...,... i guess.

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US is the center of the world? You must be dreaming. That's why here in Europe we know the US as being the most dumb people in the planet.

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Whatever...I think you would do well to simply figure out what refrigeration and air conditioning are (ask the Fench who were too busy on holiday to return and claim the remains of their family members from the overflowing morgues as tens of thousands died as the temp reached... stand back... 100F! ...as they drink warm Coke! ;-S )

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i take it Ricardo never heard of sarcasm?

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