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Hardware
Pioneer sells $145 Blu-ray player in China
It wasn't that long ago when Blu-ray and HD-DVD players were beginning to hit the market, and people were shirking at $1,000 price tags. Slowly enough it fell to $900, $800 and so on. Technology improved, first generation drives were replaced and soon the drives began entering into the “affordable” territory below $500. For many, though, that's still a big price barrier, especially so in countries that have lower per capita income than others, such as China. Luckily for them, and most likely the rest of the Blu-ray market down the road, there is apparently a significant price drop in the works for Blu-ray players from Pioneer.
In particular, the retail price of the BDC-SO2BKZ player is being reduced to 999 yuan, which translates to a price tag of only $145 – less than half the cost compared to the original $300 price tag when the BDC-SO2 hardware was initially released a little over a year ago. In fact, this puts that particular unit in the same price range as a standalone BDC-202 unit. Part of the price drop may have to do with the 2008 Olympic Games being held in China.
While that's a bit far from U.S. markets, it's a good indicator that things like sub-$100 players within the year are feasible. That will definitely help the Blu-ray market, which has seen fairly poor sales despite the lack of a competing HD format.
In particular, the retail price of the BDC-SO2BKZ player is being reduced to 999 yuan, which translates to a price tag of only $145 – less than half the cost compared to the original $300 price tag when the BDC-SO2 hardware was initially released a little over a year ago. In fact, this puts that particular unit in the same price range as a standalone BDC-202 unit. Part of the price drop may have to do with the 2008 Olympic Games being held in China.
While that's a bit far from U.S. markets, it's a good indicator that things like sub-$100 players within the year are feasible. That will definitely help the Blu-ray market, which has seen fairly poor sales despite the lack of a competing HD format.
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User Comments (4)
Post a comment| Nirkon on June 20, 2008 3:39 PM | Well I hope someone invents Super High Definition DVD... or something of the sort, just for the sake of competition. So it won't turn out to be like the 'EA Madden monopoly' all over again.
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| peas on June 20, 2008 9:04 PM | BlewRay will never enjoy the success of DVD. It isn't compelling enough and people don't like to be locked into Sony's rootkit habits. Digital downloads FTW
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| black_adder on June 21, 2008 10:29 AM | Didgital downloads will never hit the quality of BluRay anytime soon... File size too high
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| jesse_hz on June 21, 2008 3:52 PM | Never? Well, maybe not if the ISPs keep charging users through the nose for connections that should've been outdated many years ago. Considering that (1) wavelet formats will probably become more popular as they are more developed and people get faster computers, and (2) broadband speed will (hopefully) go up, I don't see what stands in the way of downloaded content. PS: And I betcha there's already Blu-ray rips out there. PPS: Where's my analog downloads?
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