Warner pulls DVD operations in South Korea

Warner pulls DVD operations in South Korea
Warner Bros. has pulled its DVD marketing and distribution operation in South Korea and is handing over the business to a local licensee. The move seems to be in response to rampant Internet piracy in South Korea where 94 percent of homes have high-speed broadband connections. The company made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday.

The company said it would make the transition in the coming weeks. This news comes just two months after Warner announced it would provide pre-release low-cost movie rentals on the Internet up to two weeks before they are released on DVD. The VOD service is meant to compete with piracy.



The company said its commitment to the South Korean market remains as strong as ever. However, it's latest move shows the struggle Hollywood studios have in countries like South Korea. An industry source said that the rampant piracy "creates a more challenging marketplace" than in other countries.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 12 Nov 2008 2:07
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  • 1 comment

  • champman

    Well this looks like the first sign of downloads taking over & slowing DVD sales.

    I'm pretty certain that even Blu-ray DVDs have only 10 to 12 years before downloadable films become the norm main source of getting our film fix. But will we be allowed to actually keep them on our hard drives or will the net be fast enough to be streaming films then ?

    I hope until 2018-2020, the majority of the EU will have cable/fibre in at least 80% of homes, but for the UK it seems even thats too soon.

    20.11.2008 22:27 #1

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