American anime industry

The chair of AX says the attendees of Anime Expo is averaging about 20 percent annual growth,
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/07/07/apop.DTL

but Ask John mentioned "The contemporary American anime industry is in dire straights. Evidence suggests that many of America's anime distributors are struggling financially."
http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1123

What's this all about?

What the industry needs to do is to stop totally relying on the hardcore anime fans for cash. It needs to appeal to both mainstream AND hardcore fans.

It needs to first get the western culture to realize that Anime is a valid motion artform like normal film making instead of just a medium for kids. That is why you will keep having these stupid companies trying to westernize their products and for some series try to keep the soccer mums happy. Do a big advertising campaign to show that anime is not just for kids but its just as good as a typical prime-time TV series.