Disney's decision to break from the rest of the movie industry and offer its films for sale on iTunes continues to pay dividends, with over 1.3 million movies sold via the service since October.
Disney's exceptional sales may cause other studios to rethink their policy toward iTunes, the Financial Times writes. Studios have resisted offering films via iTunes in fear of alienating retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target - major purveyors of studios' DVDs. Retailers have said movie downloads may force DVD prices down and reduce retail sales.
But Disney seems to be proving detractors wrong. Its recent hit Cars was a strong DVD seller, and its Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is on pace to become the best-selling DVD ever.
"The message that we deliver to our traditional [retail] partners is that the pie is getting bigger," said Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive.