by Playfuls Staff |
9th January 2006
In the first week of January 2006, Las Vegas has become the technological center of the world. Hundreds of companies have gathered here to showcase their latest products in one of the greatest technological shows in the world, CES 2006. However, many of the people attending the Consumer Electronics Show had the chance of visiting something quite different [more], as sharing space with CES at the Sands Expo Center was trade publication Adult Video News' annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, the traditional start-of-year showcase for the booming adult industry.
According to Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, in the first quantitative study conducted in three years, Adult Video News estimates consumers spent $12.6 billion on adult-oriented entertainment last year, out of which nearly $4.3 billion, or 34%, came from the purchase or rental of adult video DVDs and videocassettes. Another 20%, or $2.5 billion, was generated through Internet sales, with the third-largest segment -- dance clubs -- generating about $2 billion, or 16% of the market.
Adult software developers are the ones most in touch with the latest technological innovations. They were among the first to use the DVD on a large scale when the format hit the market nine years ago and are now going for high-definition and other new formats, including such hand-held devices as cell phones and game players. For example, Digital Playground, one of the adult industry's top software suppliers, recently released a $2 million film, "Pirates," which was shot entirely in high definition. It was released on video in a three-disc set, two of them standard DVDs and the third in HD.
"Right now, most consumers can't play the HD disc because next-generation players aren't yet on the market," said Martin Blythe, spokesman for the Video Software Dealers Assn., which co-sponsored the show with AVN. "But the point is, these companies are already ahead of the curve."
Indeed, Digital Playground just announced that it will issue trailers for upcoming movies in HD and also make them available for playback on iPod and Sony's PlayStation Portable.
The merger of advanced technology and sexual content. Considering that these two represent some of the most profitable markets around, to combine them means to achieve instant success. And it seems that more and more companies are interested in this combo.
