I need to obtain a reliable list of top DVD players sold in Europe and
U.S. respectively, within
the last six months or roughly that period of time, with total or
relative volume numbers. For the
purpose of this question, DVD players are defined as stand-alone
consumer home entertainment units,
not DVD drives embedded in PCs, nor automotive/mobile types. Answer
can be in the form of a pointer
to premium content such as pay-to-read reports, provided purchase of
said premium content is less than $50. List must have at least top
twenty players for the above mentioned two markets, but preferably
fifty or more.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 28 Dec 2003 18:20 PST

kobot-ga:

The value of the information I can provide you will depend greatly
upon your specific situation and the willingness of the three market
research firms to provide the information you seek.

As mentioned in my previous comment, this type of current market
tracking information is typically only available from market research
firms such as IDC, NPD Techworld, and the ICON Group. Depending on the
firm, this research can be available in the form of regular reports,
custom reports, or direct access to dynamic databases.

Each of the firms welcomes inquiries from potential customers with
direct questions such as yours. You may contact the firms directly at:

-----------------
NPD Techworld:
http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=contact_become.html

Telephone: 516-625-0700 (this is a New York area code)


NPD Techworld specifically lists "DVD Players" as one of the
categories they track through point of sale data analysis and consumer
research:

http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=categories_consumer_electronics.html

-----------------
IDC:
http://www.idc.com/en_US/st/contactCustServ.jhtml

offices; http://www.idc.com/en_US/st/worldwideOffices.jhtml

IDC focuses primarily on strategic forecasting and analysis.
Therefore, it is best to contact them directly to see if they can
provide you with the level of detail you are seeking. If so, they have
the most comprehensive subscription service available in North
America, with reports on just about any topic in the IT and technology
worlds, regularly updated.

A report that may contain the information you are seeking is:

Worldwide and U.S. DVD Player Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2007: Video and Beyond 
http://idc.com/getdoc.jhtml?containerId=30105

However, I would ask specifically about whether this report covers the
details down to the make and model of the top selling units before
paying the price that IDC is asking.

-----------------
The ICON Group

http://www.icongrouponline.com/emailus.asp?sid=212696037

ICON Group International, Inc.
4370 La Jolla Village Drive
Fourth Floor
San Diego CA 92122
Phone: (858) 546-4340
Fax: (858) 546-4341
iconsubs@san.rr.com

The ICON Group provides similar services as IDC, but usually at a more
granular level. While their published reports usually are of the
'outlook' type (looking five years ahead), they are also involved in
gather point of sale data for a broad swath of consumer products
including DVD players.

A report from ICON that will NOT help is their 2003-2008 World Outlook
for DVD Players report; in the summary, it specifies that the report
does not contain actual sales data due to the differences in data
collection capabilities in the 230 countries covered in the report.

-----------------

I provide this information to you in the form of a Clarification
Request because, while I am confident that any of the three can
provide you with the list you seek, their willingness will depend
greatly on how much you are willing to spend with them. In my own
experience, I have found that market research firms will sell me any
information I am looking for, but often the price of this research
outweighs its value to me! As well, once they delve into the specifics
of your request, they may find that they can only give you part of the
answer (for example, the top players sold by the top retailers only,
in Europe and the US; they may have difficulty tracking each of the
made-in-China OEM brands that have flooded both marketplaces).

If you still find this information of value and would accept it as an
Answer, please let me know and I will post it.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by kobot-ga on 28 Dec 2003 19:20 PST

The data provided at this point answers my question very clearly.
Thank you, you can close this thread. :)

kobot-ga:

I am reposting the information I provided in the Question
Clarification section as the Answer. Thank you for the opportunity to
help you with this Question.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The value of the information I can provide you will depend greatly
upon your specific situation and the willingness of the three market
research firms to provide the information you seek.

As mentioned in my previous comment, this type of current market
tracking information is typically only available from market research
firms such as IDC, NPD Techworld, and the ICON Group. Depending on the
firm, this research can be available in the form of regular reports,
custom reports, or direct access to dynamic databases.

Each of the firms welcomes inquiries from potential customers with
direct questions such as yours. You may contact the firms directly at:

-----------------
NPD Techworld:
http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=contact_become.html

Telephone: 516-625-0700 (this is a New York area code)


NPD Techworld specifically lists "DVD Players" as one of the
categories they track through point of sale data analysis and consumer
research:

http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=categories_consumer_electronics.html

-----------------
IDC:
http://www.idc.com/en_US/st/contactCustServ.jhtml

offices; http://www.idc.com/en_US/st/worldwideOffices.jhtml

IDC focuses primarily on strategic forecasting and analysis.
Therefore, it is best to contact them directly to see if they can
provide you with the level of detail you are seeking. If so, they have
the most comprehensive subscription service available in North
America, with reports on just about any topic in the IT and technology
worlds, regularly updated.

A report that may contain the information you are seeking is:

Worldwide and U.S. DVD Player Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2007: Video and Beyond 
http://idc.com/getdoc.jhtml?containerId=30105

However, I would ask specifically about whether this report covers the
details down to the make and model of the top selling units before
paying the price that IDC is asking.

-----------------
The ICON Group

http://www.icongrouponline.com/emailus.asp?sid=212696037

ICON Group International, Inc.
4370 La Jolla Village Drive
Fourth Floor
San Diego CA 92122
Phone: (858) 546-4340
Fax: (858) 546-4341
iconsubs@san.rr.com

The ICON Group provides similar services as IDC, but usually at a more
granular level. While their published reports usually are of the
'outlook' type (looking five years ahead), they are also involved in
gather point of sale data for a broad swath of consumer products
including DVD players.

A report from ICON that will NOT help is their 2003-2008 World Outlook
for DVD Players report; in the summary, it specifies that the report
does not contain actual sales data due to the differences in data
collection capabilities in the 230 countries covered in the report.

-----------------

I provide this information to you in the form of a Clarification
Request because, while I am confident that any of the three can
provide you with the list you seek, their willingness will depend
greatly on how much you are willing to spend with them. In my own
experience, I have found that market research firms will sell me any
information I am looking for, but often the price of this research
outweighs its value to me! As well, once they delve into the specifics
of your request, they may find that they can only give you part of the
answer (for example, the top players sold by the top retailers only,
in Europe and the US; they may have difficulty tracking each of the
made-in-China OEM brands that have flooded both marketplaces).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

kobot-ga:

The type of information you seek is typically only sold on an annual
subscription basis by market research groups such as IDC,
NPDTechworld, and The ICON Group. All three conduct point-of-sale data
collection for many categories of consumer goods, including
stand-alone DVD players. They then make this data available to their
subscribers as well as present slices of the data in quarterly and
annual research reports. The problem is that the quarterly reports
tend to start at $1500 US and up, while the annual subscriptions can
be several times that.

I have gone through the various press releases and related news
articles related to DVD players and the research of these market
research groups for the past few years, to no avail. The type of
information you seek does not appear to be available at a price that
is within the budget you set ($50 for premium content).

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

Thank you.
I will consider the question answered if a pointer can be provided to
either of the mentioned parties capable of providing such a report
(regardless of cost).