GameStop: Digital distribtion will not be an "addressable market" until 2014

Analyst Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee has said in a research note composed after meeting with four GameStop executives, that the game retailer does not see digital distribution becoming a viable market until 2014.

The company says it has "conducted the most thorough study to date" on the subject, and feels that an "addressable market" for digital downloads "will not exist until 2014."

GameStop management also expects that only 25 percent of consumers, even by 2014, will have access to the technology required to purchase and download digital titles and that it could cost them $100 a month.

Bhatia never said what the reason for this cost would be, but one can assume it applies to subscription fees, broadband service, and possibly PC upgrades.

The study also revealed that due to storage space requirements and customers only wanting to pay $39 per title at most, it would give publishers less of an incentive to use such a service "as some in the industry might think".

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