Sony 2002 Annual Report Download - page 46

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44
Sony Corporation Annual Report 2002
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE) saw success on a variety of fronts. Imageworks, SPDE’s
visual effects facility, delivered key sequences for Spider-Man, Stuart Little 2, and Harry Potter and
The Sorcerer’s Stone and continued to build an all-CGI production pipeline to capitalize on the
exploding market for CGI-animated films. SoapCity established itself as the number-one online service
for soap opera fans. The multi-player online game, EverQuest, continued to dominate its market with
more than 400,000 paying subscribers. SPDE is poised for even greater success with the debut of the
multi-player online game, Star Wars Galaxies, later in 2002. SPDE also launched Screenblast, a
software service that helps online enthusiasts create and share video sequences over the Internet.
Star Wars Galaxies SoapCity
DVD Players
The global market for DVD players surged during the year under review. Approximately
28 million units were shipped worldwide and Sony captured a significant share of the
market in all geographic areas. The popularity of DVDs grew during the year with
shipments of movie, music video, and other DVD software increasing dramatically.
During the year, Sony began selling a minus RW format DVD recorder.
In February 2002, together with eight other companies from Japan,
Europe, and South Korea, Sony announced development of the “Blu-ray
Disc,” a large-capacity optical disc video recording format employing a
blue-violet laser. With up to 27 gigabytes of video data storage possible on
a single-sided, single-layer 12cm Blu-ray Disc, there is recording capacity
for more than 2 hours of digital high-definition video programming and
over 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting.