Blockbuster is not going to take Netflix customers away, at least not in any significant numbers that Netflix needs to worry about. I am pretty sure that a majority of Netflix customers (and I am one and have been for a while now) like having Netflix on their Xbox's and PS3s and DVD Players. All the places that Blockbuster is NOT. Nobody I know has Netflix for the DVDs by mail, they have it for the streaming to a great variety of devices like me. Personally I have requested exactly ONE DVD by mail which was purely by accident while learning the NF site.
Blockbuster is a "late to the streaming game" rental store thats a dying dinosaur grasping at the edges of the tar pit trying to keep its head above the tar. I watch quite a few movies but its been more than a decade since I went to a Blockbuster, not since I made the mistake of dropping a couple movies in the night box only to have them try to scam me for a late fee trying to say I put them in after midnight. I lit my BB card on fire and dropped it on the sidewalk as I drove away for the last time from a Blockbuster. I have not and will not return.
That said, I have wanted Netflix to start carrying games for a couple years now. I would actually use the DVD by mail should they include games, even at an additional fee. Problem is they need to stock PC, Mac, PS3 and XBOX versions of games and thats a lot of cost for a single game. Movies only need to be stocked in two formats, DVD and BluRay, easy and cheap. I don't know how much they could charge that people would pay and still make a profit having to maintain stock of multiple formats of games in hundreds of warehouses across the country. Their purchasing agent really has to SERIOUSLY know the gaming market to "guess" what to buy and what format to buy it in. How many "Modern Warefare 2" should they buy and on what platform? How many "Dragon Age" and what format? Movies are easy compared to that nightmare.
From a consumer point of view, the concept makes perfect sense. From a business point of view, its a serious financial risk that could easily force the company to invest 6 or more figures in stock and take a big gamble as to what game people will request and how much they are willing to pay to rent it. I can see that Blockbuster has little chance of survival if it doesn't try. Blockbuster is a failing business model with physical stores and its trying to transfer to the online model thats dominated by the behemoth thats Netflix. I can see that Netflix is quite stable in its market position and doesn't need to try, at least not right now. As the economy stabilizes in the future, it might make sense for Netflix to try but I won't hold my breath.
Blockbuster is a "late to the streaming game" rental store thats a dying dinosaur grasping at the edges of the tar pit trying to keep its head above the tar. I watch quite a few movies but its been more than a decade since I went to a Blockbuster, not since I made the mistake of dropping a couple movies in the night box only to have them try to scam me for a late fee trying to say I put them in after midnight. I lit my BB card on fire and dropped it on the sidewalk as I drove away for the last time from a Blockbuster. I have not and will not return.
That said, I have wanted Netflix to start carrying games for a couple years now. I would actually use the DVD by mail should they include games, even at an additional fee. Problem is they need to stock PC, Mac, PS3 and XBOX versions of games and thats a lot of cost for a single game. Movies only need to be stocked in two formats, DVD and BluRay, easy and cheap. I don't know how much they could charge that people would pay and still make a profit having to maintain stock of multiple formats of games in hundreds of warehouses across the country. Their purchasing agent really has to SERIOUSLY know the gaming market to "guess" what to buy and what format to buy it in. How many "Modern Warefare 2" should they buy and on what platform? How many "Dragon Age" and what format? Movies are easy compared to that nightmare.
From a consumer point of view, the concept makes perfect sense. From a business point of view, its a serious financial risk that could easily force the company to invest 6 or more figures in stock and take a big gamble as to what game people will request and how much they are willing to pay to rent it. I can see that Blockbuster has little chance of survival if it doesn't try. Blockbuster is a failing business model with physical stores and its trying to transfer to the online model thats dominated by the behemoth thats Netflix. I can see that Netflix is quite stable in its market position and doesn't need to try, at least not right now. As the economy stabilizes in the future, it might make sense for Netflix to try but I won't hold my breath.
