Despite the economy, online entertanment providers report healthy increases in sales. This makes sense — people are not going out as much, and order needed entertainment — distractions from the economic woes on the news– sent to the comfort of home.
Amazon bucked the slumping online retail trend, reporting a 24% increase in profits from a year ago, but warned investors not to expect such growth during Q2. Net income totaled $177 million and revenue climbed 18% to $4.89 billion. The company didn’t break out numbers for the much-ballyhooed Kindle 2, yet stated sales “exceeded our most optimistic expectations.”
Netflix had a whale of a quarter reporting a 68% year-over-year increase of net income, totaling $22.4 million for Q1 on revenue of $394.1 million. The online DVD subscription-based rental services finished the quarter with 10.3 million subscribers, an increase of 25% from a year ago.
as movies make their way from theaters to dvd seemingly faster and faster, while the price of movie tickets stays high ($12 per ticket?!?) and the price of netflix stays low ($14 for 2 dvds at a time) , it makes sense that Netflix is killing it. don’t get me wrong, $20-$24 for two tickets to go see a blockbuster (X-Men Origins : Wolverine, anyone?) is a great price when compared to having to upgrade surround sound and giant plasma tv to recreate the experience, but for other movies, its like “We could go pay 30 cents a minute to watch Jason Statham in Crank 2, or we can wait 3 months and watch it at home for somewhere in the realm of $1.50…”