Report notes decrease in net worth, slight increase in units sold

The Japan Video Software Association (JVA) released its 12-month report on video software sales in Japan from January to December 2016 on Wednesday. The report revealed a 6.2% decrease in the net worth of DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales in Japan compared to last year's sales.

According the report, the net worth of DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales in Japan was 204.474 billion yen over the course of 2016. This total includes purchases by individuals, rental stores, and businesses. It also includes bonus DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, such as those bundled with magazines or manga volumes — these have been on the rise in recent years, so the JVA began including them in its tallies in May 2016, and they accounted for 1.135 billion yen of the year's total.

Home video revenue in Japan has gradually declined since 2005, as seen in the chart below. From the past 12 years, sales hit their peak in 2004, with a revenue of 375.3 billion yen.

In terms of units sold, however, the market saw a 0.7% increase from last year, with a total of 72,767,000 Blu-ray Disc and DVD units sold. The total number of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs sold for rental stores was up from last year, even though there was a total decrease in revenue from these sales. Sales for individuals were down in terms of both revenue and units sold.

Update: JVA has corrected its numbers for the the net worth of DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales in Japan in a new report on March 14. The new report states the net worth at 204.727 billion yen (about US$1.819 billion), or a 6.1% decrease compared to 2015.