It's a bullshit figure.
AVN made that number up to satisfy advertisers 5 yrs ago and it stuck.
I work with the mainstream media a LOT and everyone I do interviews for asks me that same very question.
My answer is, " No company would be foolish enough to give you real figures, especially private companies" Since there are only three publicly listed ones where you can actually see the revenues- how can anyone really be sure these numbers add up?
Lest anyone forget about all those video companies here in the Valley selling product out of their backdoor for CASH.
That practice had been going on for years, fucking distributors and bookstores in the process....but that's another story
I can tell you from experience that the companies that once boasted $35- $100M a year were all BULLSHIT- That includes Club Jenna, Wicked, and Vivid.
None of these companies did anywhere near those figures.
If I am lying, or you think I am talking out of my ass then prove me wrong.
You cannot gauge how many DVD's are sold, you cannot measure On Demand/ PPV downloads in hotel rooms- why? every bookstore/ video store does not report numbers
as well as companies like Marriott and AT&T will never release those numbers. Period.
IMHO- the industy at it's peak maybe did $15- 20 Billion and that golden age was between '99-01