Best Buy, which is not as well known in France as Fnac-Darty or Boulanger, is one of the main sellers of electronic equipment (TVs, audio, cameras, computers and video games) in the United States, alongside Target, WalMart and even Amazon.
On Friday, October 13, 2023, our colleagues at the American site The Digital Bits conveyed alarming information, at least for those who love physical media. According to industry sources, Best Buy plans to permanently exit the physical media business as early as 2024perhaps from the end of the first trimester.
Best Buy will discontinue physical media by 2024
This decision not only covers sales of Blu-Ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD in stores, but also also online on their website. Although not yet confirmed, video games in physical format may also be affected by this measure. Random, this decision could have a significant impact on the future of the formatConsidering the importance of the American chain in the industry.
Who knows, Best Buy might follow suit and motivate its competitors to make similar decisions. As The Digital Bits reminds us, the machine is already in motion in Uncle Sam’s country. This is the case, for example, of Target stores, which have seen their physical media sales decline in recent years. Giant Walmart, on the other hand, still maintains its leadership in the USA with a 45% market share in the Blu-Ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD industry.
Also read: The disappearance of DVDs is killing cinema
To say that physical support is on borrowed time is an understatement. In recent years, and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, physical media has been replaced by digital versions. Added to this are streaming platforms that limit (or even destroy) consumers’ purchasing intentions.
Whether it is movies, TV series or video games, the trend is clearly in favor of 100% digital. This is evidenced, for example, by the latest announcement from Sony, which plans to release a new version of the PS5 with a removable Blu-Ray player. We also learned that in the summer of 2023, Microsoft plans to release a 100% digital Xbox Series X and, accordingly, a product without a disk drive.
Source : Digital Bits