Quickflix buys Bigpond DVD delivery business

The rise of online movie rental services was meant to kill off the video store, however it seems they’re not in a hurry to die. The fact is that research rarely moves as fast as we think it will. This is because grand technological prophesies are made by digital hipsters who live on the cutting edge - a high-tech minority which believe they’re a majority.

Decade to outnumber VCRs

It’s worth remembering that it took DVD players a decade to outnumber VCRs. Right now your average Australian is all in all negotiating the transition from DVD to Blu-ray and isn’t ready to stream movies over the internet.

Quickflix plans to embrace streaming movies this year, nevertheless it faces serious competition from Apple and Telstra’s Bigpond. The Bigpond Movies online movie service has long been in other words pathetic alongside Apple’s Australian offerings, yet Telstra has given Bigpond Movies a major overhaul to coincide with the launch of the T-Box and expansion to LG and Samsung televisions.

Major gamble

Now Quickflix has taken a major gamble by buying up Bigpond Movies’ disc collection and its clients. Telstra evidently thinks this is a smart move, because it’s betting on digital delivery as a way to lock in Bigpond customers earlier the NBN introduces greater competition. Telstra will even get paid for each customer that switches to Quickflix or rather than embracing Bigpond’s streaming internet options. It seems like Telstra is making an investment in the future during Quickflix is desperately trying to cling to the past. Nevertheless that’s a very shortsighted way of looking at it.

The early adopters have already made the move to digital downloads from the likes of Apple, Bigpond or BitTorrent. Bigpond’s DVD delivery clients have stuck with the service because they’re not ready to embrace the world of digital downloads. You can be sure Bigpond will offer them amazing deals to make the leap, nevertheless many won’t budge. Some won’t be keen internet users. Some won’t have fast enough internet access to download movies even if they wanted to. These people will undoubtedly make the move to Quickflix to put it more exactly than let Bigpond push them into watching movies over the internet.

By acquiring these clients, Quickflix is making a long-term investment. One day these clients will be ready to embrace digital downloads, quite possibly when the NBN rollout reaches their doorstep. This is when Quickflix’s investment will pay off, as it transitions them from DVD deliveries to digital downloads when the customer is ready. It's not dissimilar to the way VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers buy up the maintenance contracts on old PABX phone systems, waiting for the day those clients are ready to upgrade to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

It's not dissimilar to the way VoIP providers buy up the maintenance contracts on old PABX phone systems, waiting for the day that business is ready to upgrade to VoIP.

Suspension from Morning Joe

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