Sony’s looking to consolidate its Blu-ray market in Australia and says it’s going to inject another 20,000 Blu-ray players into Australian homes with its launch later this month of a bonus promotional offer across its range of BRAVIA LCD TVs.

Not one to sit back and let consumer take-up of Blu-ray technology just run its course, Sony offered a similar deal with a free PS3 with all Bravia LCD TVs last year, and says the Blu-ray player featured in this latest bonus promotion is its BDP-S550 with a retail price tag of $649.

Talking up the promotion, Sony Australia’s head of strategy and brand development, Toby Barbour, says Sony has been “at the forefront of the Blu-ray format since its inception."
 
And, according to one of Barbour’s colleagues, Australians have been quick to go across to the new Blu-ray format.

Kim Overall, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s managing director, said that after launching less than two years ago, the Blu-ray format had rapidly been accepted by Australian consumers as the new generation for home entertainment.
 
According to Overall, at the end of 2008, more than 450,000 Blu-ray players, including PlayStation 3, had already been sold in Australia as well as an estimated 750,000 Blu-ray Disc titles.

Overall doesn’t think the Blu-ray players on offer with the bonus promotion will last long and to help anyone who wants to snag a player with their TV buy, from 16 March onwards you can go to www.sony.com.au/bonus for a live update of how many are left.