Best Buy to halt in-store sales of physical media like DVDs, Blu-rays
MINNEAPOLIS — Fans of physical media have been dealt another blow, as big box retailer Best Buy has reportedly made the decision to cease sales of DVDs and Blu-rays in-store and also online.
As first reported by The Digital Bits, Minnesota-based Best Buy will phase out sales in early 2024, meaning that this will be the last holiday season that you'll be able to scoop up those stocking-stuffer movies at the remaining stores that still have inventory on shelves.
"To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago," a company spokesperson told WCCO. "Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy."
Not all physical media will be pulled from Best Buy's available shopping carts. Best Buy officials informed WCCO the company still intends to continue selling physical copies of video games.
The move comes as many consumers have switched from owning movies to subscribing to various streaming services. Advocates for physical media argue that opting for the latter option leaves the decision of which of your favorite movies you have access to at any given moment in the hands of media companies, who can add and subtract access to those titles at any given moment.
Still, Variety reports that sales of physical discs are in freefall, dropping from $1.05 billion in the first half of 2022 to just $754 million in the first half of 2023.
Best Buy's announcement comes on the heels of Netflix mailing out the last of its for-rent physical discs. At its peak, the DVD boasted more than 20 million subscribers who could choose from more than 100,000 titles stocked in the Netflix library. But in 2011, Netflix made the pivotal decision to separate the DVD side business from a streaming business that now boasts 238 million worldwide subscribers and generated $31.5 billion in revenue last year.
Loyal Netflix customers were given the option of keeping the last discs they received via mail.
