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Cheap Blu-ray players will hit U.S. store shelves

19 April 2009 10:26 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 13 comments

According to a report by Blu-ray.com, cheaper Blu-ray players will hit store shelves in the United States a lot sooner than one would think. At the moment the average selling price of Blu-ray players is around $199, but the report expects it to fall to $99 fairly soon. The expected drop is due to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) licensing in China, which led Samsung marketing director Mark Leathan to predict $99 players.

It's a bit early to speculate about holiday prices, as usually it takes to about mid-summer before accurate predictions are made, but NPD Group industry analyst Stephen Baker isn't discarding possibilities. "Black Friday, maybe. It's entirely possible you could see a few players down at that price level," he said.

While the Chinese manufacturing may lower the price of Blu-ray players that will play retail Blu-ray movies, there is also the question of how stripped down a $99 Blu-ray player would be. Would it have advanced interactive features, BD-Live or provide any kind of storage. They also would be competing with more recent players that include new features like streaming video from Internet-based services.

What about the support for audio decoding? One thing is for sure, a $99 Blu-ray player would really give us all some statistics to outline just how important these advanced features are to the average consumer anyway.

Permalink to this article | Topics: Blu-ray Home Theater

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Discuss this article!
ivymike (Member) 19 April 2009 11:00
An affordable BD-RE computer drive would be nice. [ + quote]
keith1993 (Member) 19 April 2009 11:07
*Originally posted by ivymike:* An affordable BD-RE computer drive would be nice. I second that! [ + quote]
Mac_lova (Inactive) 19 April 2009 11:27
Thats gonna hurt the playstation 3 ,, [ + quote]
Hyasuma (Newbie) 19 April 2009 13:05
it be nice if PS3 was 99 bucks hahahaha, never gonna happen! [ + quote]
Morreale (Member) 19 April 2009 14:06
*Originally posted by Mac_lova:* Thats gonna hurt the playstation 3 ,, The PS3 hasn't even been hacked yet... [ + quote]
atomicxl (Junior Member) 19 April 2009 14:33
*Quote:* *Originally posted by Mac_lova:* Thats gonna hurt the playstation 3 ,, The PS3 hasn't even been hacked yet... I don't think he's talking about hacking the PS3. $99 kinda makes the PS3 having a Blu-Ray player built in a "so what" issue. Kinda like how in 2003 nobody really cared that the PS2 was also a DVD player since you could buy one for cheap and alot of regular everyday households had one for every TV. Plus, $199 xbox + $99 Blu-Ray player is basically the same thing as a PS3, except $100 less. [ + quote]
ZorkZork (Inactive) 19 April 2009 18:03
Great, they get cheaper after I buy a Ps3... I wanted to play gta but also needed a blu ray player.. So i got the ps3! But it doesn't matter the price or not I got it for free from www.paidfast.tk so whatevs.... Anyways, the price of blue ray going down will = the price of the ps3 going down, won't it? [ + quote]
Morreale (Member) 19 April 2009 18:25
*Originally posted by ZorkZork:* ! But it doesn't matter the price or not I got it for free from * so whatevs.... Damn Nigerians... * Edited so ddp doesn't have to ;) [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 19 April 2009 23:29
bomber991 (Junior Member) 19 April 2009 18:29
*Quote:* Plus, $199 xbox + $99 Blu-Ray player is basically the same thing as a PS3, except $100 less. Yeah basically. I really can't tell the difference between the 360 and PS3 besides with one you have to pay to play online and the other you don't. I think sony and microsoft both screwed up by releasing multiple sku's though. I don't know the difference between the $200 and $300 xbox, is it just wireless controllers and a larger hard drive? This current generation of consoles kind of sucks cause you really do need an HDTV to be able to take advantage of it. HDTV's are getting pretty cheap now so that's good, but the cost of a new tv and a new console is expensive. [ + quote]
Morreale (Member) 19 April 2009 18:35
Well I know on Boxing Day (or well Black Friday in US) and like Superbowl week stores offer tons of HDTV bundles that usually include a PS3 even and a surround sound system for around $2000, more or less dependin' on the surround sound and TV of course. Not bad for a first set up, it includes everythin'. [ + quote]
beanos66 (Junior Member) 19 April 2009 19:36
not bothered about bd-live or streaming media what I want is mkv playback and as the chinese brought us the first affordable dvd players with divx and xvid I think we might be getting it [ + quote]
samus250 (Junior Member) 19 April 2009 20:48
*Originally posted by ZorkZork:* Great, they get cheaper after I buy a Ps3... I wanted to play gta but also needed a blu ray player.. So i got the ps3! But it doesn't matter the price or not I got it for free from www.paidfast.tk so whatevs.... Anyways, the price of blue ray going down will = the price of the ps3 going down, won't it? No, not necessarily. Sony would rather make a profit for the PS3. [ + quote]
cart0181 (Junior Member) 20 April 2009 1:38
*Quote:* *Originally posted by ZorkZork:* ! But it doesn't matter the price or not I got it for free from * so whatevs.... Damn Nigerians... * Edited so ddp doesn't have to ;) "Damn Nigerians..." LOL. [ + quote]