The launch
Samsung 5 Image 6The launch of new high-tech products is always challenging, particularly when the product is aiming to replace a near universal product such as the video recorder, but the UK DVD market has made a much stronger start than expected. A key factor in the popularity of DVD has been the mass availability of software via retail and rental outlets. There are also problems in the market. One problem is that film producers and distributors want to control the release of home movies. This is because the films themselves are released at different times around the world. Until now, this has been achieved by coding the videos or discs so that they can be played only on certain machines in different parts of the world. For example, discs sold in the USA cannot be played on machines sold in Europe. Non region-specific hardware products have proved particularly popular, although there may yet be legal implications to this development.