DVD Players Surpass VCRs; PC-73%, Cell Phone- 76% Penetration: Nielsen

As of third quarter 2006, DVD penetration in the U.S. is up 6% from the previous year and continues to grow, while VCR penetration has started a decline.
- In 1999 when Nielsen first started tracking DVD ownership in its Home Tech Report, DVD penetration was only 6.7% and was dwarfed by VCR ownership at 88.6%.
- DVD households now rent DVDs about twice per month, compared to VCR homes renting VHS tapes only about once per month.
- The frequency with which households rent video tapes has leveled off during the past six months.
More topline findings from Nielsen's Q3 Home Tech study:
Computers
- 73.4% of U.S. homes currently have a computer in the household, and homes with children and teens are more likely to have a home computer.
- Homes with an income over $60K are 50% more likely to own a home computer than homes with an income below $60K.
Internet
- 95.4% of consumers with Internet access go online at least once a week,
- 37.3% of Internet users go online more than once a day.
- 78.2% of online users have made purchases over the Internet.
- 46.8% of online users (ages 12+) have used the Internet to download and play music from the Internet.
MP3 Players
- 26.7% of U.S. homes own or rent an MP3 player.
- Households with the presence of children 12-17 years of age are nearly 2 ½ times more likely to own or rent an MP3 player than compared to the Total U.S.
- The percentage of homes owning an MP3 player has risen by 149.5% since 3rd Quarter 2003.
PDA
- 16.4% of U.S. homes own a PDA, and since 3rd quarter 2003, PDA ownership has increased by 4.5%.
- Not surprisingly, higher income homes are more than four times as likely as lower income homes to own a PDA.
Methodology
Nielsen's Home Technology Report is a primary research survey conducted by
phone with 1,253 randomly selected American homes four times per
year.
Source: Nielsen's Home Technology Report