BB Liquidating Inc. (BLIAQ)

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MOBILE USERS, BLOCKBUSTER IS HERE
Blockbuster Going Mobile and Digital

There is no doubt that watching movies from home has changes. First, Pay-Per-View made watching movies through the television possible free of commercials and not edited for TV. Next companies like NetFlix began the online revolution, allowing streaming of video through the television provider for a small subscription fee, DVD's through the mail and now streaming television through game consoles, phones and tablets like the iPad. Now well known movie rental chain Blockbuster (BBI) is entering the arena through its newly announced "application programming interface" which seeks to upgrade their services to be web 2.0 compatible. This includes streaming and digital downloads of new releases to any supporting mobile platform.

BBI suffered dropping sales and stock price for some time as movie watchers migrated away from the now outdated stores to get faster and easier access to movies. Stock price in 2002 was as high as $29 per share, and now resides close to the $0.40 area. One thing that serves Blockbuster very well even now is their strong branding, which cannot be said to many penny stocks. This is a huge potential for them, since any campaign undertaken by them will be more widely received than more unknown companies. This makes the potential growth for BBI huge for investors. They have the benefit of low stock price, which allows explosive growth, and some of the strength of a larger cap stock through their years of branding.

It is unknown if it is too late for BBI to step into the game. One reason why stock prices fell so far was of their slow reaction speed towards change. It seems that now BBI has got the hint, and is looking to capitalize on the multi-platform possibilities for movies, especially since more and more developers are looking to create tablets that can compete with the iPad.

One edge that could let BBI make a strong comeback is their access to the newest releases. NetFlix cannot offer the newest movies the same way Blockbuster can, with up to one month more of delays than BBI. The two services also differ when it comes to payment. NetFlix offers monthly fees that allow you to exchange movies at will whereas BBI would allow customers to pay for only the movies they want to see and forgo the required monthly costs. This is more flexible but may not attract the frequent movie watchers.

BBI has chosen to go with Sonoa Systems to power their expansive project, called "Blockbuster Everywhere." Sonoa is a company that is widely used by many large companies and their help will likely be a huge benefit for BBI.

The near future will give some indication on whether or not BBI can take back some of the stage against its newer competitors. Keep an eye out for the preliminary results of their newest efforts to strengthen themselves, it may prove to be just what they needed to get back on track.

Source: http://monsterstox.com/articles/bbi-going-mobile-6may2010