4K Ultra HD TV sales rose 494 percent for the third quarter compared to the same quarter last year, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) reports.
The same report also found that for the first time, consumer spending on subscription streaming went above spending on packaged media sales in the quarter.
According to data obtained by the DEG, 2.8 million U.S. households already own a 4K Ultra HD TV, out of the 96 million total HDTV households. This bodes well for the launch of the Ultra HD Blu-ray format at the end of the year.
But the overall news isn't particularly bright for packaged media, with sales down 14% year-on-year in the third quarter. With $1.146 billion in spending on disc purchases in the quarter, it was eclipsed by spending on subscription streaming. Consumers spent $1.268 billion on SVOD platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, up 23.3% from the same quarter a year ago.
Overall, anything related to physical media appears to be on a downward trajectory, with brick and mortar rental (down 17.15%), disc subscriptions (down 15.6%) and rental kiosks (down 7.61%) all down. On the other hand, total digital spending was up 15.75% to nearly $2.12 billion.
Total home entertainment spending remained largely unchanged from Q3 2014 to 2015, up a slight 0.22%.
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