Netflix vs. Blockbuster Revisited

Thomas Hawk writes "Exactly one year ago at thomashawk.com Davis Freeberg debated Wall Street analyst Michael Pachter regarding the future of the online DVD rental world. Freeberg maintained that Netflix was the clear and obvious choice for a winner while Pachter predicted that in the next 12 months Netflix would significantly underperform Blockbuster. Now another look one year later at the competitive landscape in the DVD market. Pachter is nice enough to continue the conversation and even admits in hindsight that he made a mistake regarding his prediction on Netflix vs. Blockbuster for the year past -- but Pachter still maintains that Blockbuster has the upper hand over Netflix in the coming year ahead. Freeberg, of course, thinks he's wrong once again and that Netflix will continue to dominate as the leader of this market. "

Comments

It's to be expected really

[Frenchman113]

Infinite rentals, no due dates, a massive library, and you can rent from your very own chair without ever leaving your house. What's blockbuster got to top that?

Re:It's to be expected really

[DigiShaman]

Coupla decades of building brand recognition and customer base?

Such as getting screwed by their late fee policies? That's what I think of Block Buster...

Haha
Hahahahahaaaa

i wished they'd pay-as-you-go

[boxlight]

I would like to use an online rental service like Netflix (more specifically, their Canadian equiv. zip.ca) instead of Blockbuster, but I don't want to be locked in with their subscription model.

If they would introduce some kind of pay-as-you-go scheme, that would be ideal. I don't want to pay the monthly fee as in any given month I may only rent one movie -- or none at all.

boxlight

Re:i wished they'd pay-as-you-go

[kevin_conaway]

And you're they're worst nightmare.

They would make no money off of you. Business is a 2-way street you know. They get to make money and you get something in return.

I think the situation you're describing is more suited for the "on-demand" model of cable television.

I don't want either of them to "win"

[hellfire]

I want both of them to keep fighting it out... for a very long time.

Because when video rental services compete, I win.

Three cheers for competition!

Re:I want what comes next

[boxlight]

Just because "Teenage Exorcist" is waiting in my mailbox when I get home doesn't mean that I'm going to feel like watching it tonite.

I think you're doing it wrong. "Netflixers" I know do it like this -- get the DVD in the mail, copy it to your PC with something like DVDShrink, send the DVD back right away so you get the next item in your queue sooner.

Then later when you feel like watching the movie, burn it to a DVD+/-RW, watch it, then delete the file off your computer.

This may be walking the tightrope of "fair usage", but that's the reality of how people I know are using this sort of service.

boxlight

What about Redbox?

[Sentryp]

http://www.redbox.com/ They have some they everone else doesn't... Cheap pay as you go rentals. And you can get fries with that!

I once had NetFlix

[robogun]

I found eDonkey significantly outperforms Netflix, at least for me.

I was once a subscriber, but I dropped Netflix back when they went from $19.99 to $23.99/mo.

My Thoughts

[MBCook]

I really REALLY like Netflix. I've had them for two years or so and they are fantastic. I haven't tried Blockbuster and I don't intend to because, frankly, I hate the company. Their stores have gone down in quality and the prices have gone WAY up in last few years (specifically video games). All that said, I'd like to comment on something from the article:

"Since the launch of Blockbuster's online dvd rental program in August 2004, they have added 1.3 million customers, but over the last 6 months alone, Netflix was able to add almost as many subscribers. Each customer that Netflix acquired represents pure growth for the company, but of Blockbuster's 1.3 million subscribers, how many of them represent former retail store customers? "

The last few times I've been in my local Blockbuster, they have been doing hard sells on their online service to every customer. They talk about how convenient it is, how much it will save you, blah blah blah.

I seriously doubt Blockbuster has gotten very many new customers at all to their online service. I think most of them were conversions from in-store customers.