Carlos Lam

15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009

On Feb 12 05:37 PM zvarvel wrote:

> Blockbuster has been left for dead since the end of 2004 after the
> late fee fiasco. Sales have not declined more than 5% after closing
> hundreds of stores across the world. Activist Carl Icahn largest
> shareholder, placed retail veteran Jim Keyes into lead a turnaround.
> Its a month away from announcing 2008 profitability. Gaming and
> the recession will further help their efforts.

You may be correct about Blockbuster sales jumping because of a "cocooning" effect and increased gaming revenue. Alternatively, I see two threats that Blockbuster will face:

* Online gaming's growth necessarily competes with rentals of PS3, Wii, and Xbox games

* Netflix is able to provide movies at a lower cost than Blockbuster because they do not have costly retail space