Not many people make it a Blockbuster night anymore. On Sept. 23, the movie rental company filed for bankruptcy.
Blockbuster earned less in its second quarter of 2010 than its second quarter of 2009, mostly due to store closures, decline in store sales, and an inability to be easily traded in the market, according to the Blockbuster Web site.
Competition from companies like Netflix and On Demand were some of Blockbuster’s problems and Ramdas Chandra, associate professor of International Business, said even these options will vanish over time through online streaming.
When Netflix started, many doubted its longevity. Blockbuster started offering options of in-store or online rentals, while Netflix was more online, Chandra said.
“Netflix came out with a stronger online program. They were better at it than Blockbuster, especially around the ‘.com’ era,” he said. “Netflix’s streaming capability has made them even stronger.”
Blockbuster came into the online game late, said Chandra.
If Blockbuster wants to survive, they have to reinvent their ways, said Chandra. They have access to a lot of networks and should move towards streaming and skip mail/ordering. But, they can’t do it alone, he said.
“Right now, I don’t think they’re going to last very long,” said Chandra.
Diana Karpowicz, graduate international business student said, “I used to use Blockbuster years ago, very frequently, but then prices started shooting high for rentals.”
