Andre Yoskowitz
2 Apr 2007 8:51
When Samsung lowered the retail price of its Blu-ray Disc player BP-1000 to $469.99 USD last month, Toshiba immediately reduced the retail price for its entry-level HD DVD player HD-A2 to $399 USD.
Taiwanese optical disc drive makers have stated that this price competition will force all entry level Blu Ray and HD-DVD player models to be launched at $499 USD or less during the second half of this year.
The sources have indicated that $500 USD is now the market acceptance price for optical disc drives. Blu Ray and HD-DVD players were not originally expected to hit prices of $500 or lower until the 4th quarter of this year but Toshiba launched the HD-E1 at that price earlier this month. With all the added pressure from the HD-DVD camp, Blu Ray had to follow suit, and prices have been falling ever since.
We hope to see even lower prices and higher disc reading speeds in the near future.
Source:
Digitimes