There’s been a lot of technology hitting the shelves in markets around the world, with advances in downloading and streaming movies making things tight for traditional mediums that supply entertainment to the masses. Some experts have even gone as far as to say that the DVD appears to be an endangered species, but there is evidence showing that for wholesalers and retailers, the profits could be substantial for those who see opportunity in the decline of mainstream DVD sales on the retail market.

Whether it’s video on demand or torrents and illegal content being streamed to personal computers around the world, the rate of consumers shelling out top dollar for mainstream movie releases from retail stores has slumped. It’s been a real headache from Hollywood to Wall Street, and it continues to decline as the accessibility of sites hosting video content become more prolific.

On the positive side of things, however, there is hope for those in the wholesale and small to medium retail markets that want to secure large volumes of DVDs for less, and at increasingly higher quality than was imagined possible less than five years ago.

Along with the increased availability of discounted DVDs for sale, there are also a lot of additional items that sweeten the deal as well. DVD art has become something of a cult hit amongst movie collectors and fanatics, and the prices for what was once considered a purchase destined for the “discretionary purchase” category, has now reached the shelves of independent retailers and small businesses across the country. The winners seem to be the eager scores of consumers who are very happy to snap up these titles at discount prices.

For those who don’t quite see why the shift in technology has created such a stir in the industry, there are a few facts to consider:

Blu-ray optical disc storage will likely be the next wave in digital entertainment on removable media. With 25-50GB of capacity per disc, the benefits are obvious to anyone who desires maximum quality that is also compatible with next-generation HDTV and visual media players. The startling thing for some is that Blu-ray sales will be reaching an estimated 400 million units in shipments by the end of the year, and another 2 billion by 2014. With this kind of growth, there will also be a tremendous surge in sales for player and devices that make the most of this new technology, leaving a lot of conventional DVD systems piling up in warehouses gathering dust.

For the savvy entrepreneur, this represents a new wave of business opportunities, as those dusty crates of DVD players and other devices find their way into the market at prices that are hard to ignore. Also, there will be a massive quantity of DVDs left over from the medium’s heyday, and this will contribute to the expected continued sales cycle of another 10 years, as some industry experts predict.

Another point to consider is the possibly slow forward movement for high bandwidth Internet access points to take off, thus providing another sales opportunity for sellers who cater to customers who are not willing to go premium with their online content services, and also not impressed with slow download times on their computers.