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Sony's cheaper Blu-ray player another blow in the format war

by Adam Turner

Tuesday, 27 February 2007

By slashing $US400 from the price tag on its newly announced BDP-S300 Blu-ray player, Sony is neutralising one of the HD DVD camp's key advantages.

While Blu-ray may appear to have the upper hand amongst early adopters who don't care too much about price tags, it was going to struggle when the format war shifted to winning over mainstream consumers. Sony's cheapest Blu-ray player is now only $100 more than Toshiba's cheapest HD DVD player, helping create a level playing field in terms of price.

The BDP-S300 is a smaller than the $999 BDP-S1, but reported has all the same features and - unlike the more expensive model - it can play CDs.

The move to cut prices is an indication Blu-ray camp feels the war is moving into the next phase, as I would have expected Sony to squeeze top dollar out of early adopters for a little longer. The BDP-S300 is only $100 more expensive than a 20GB PlayStation 3, which has a built-in Blu-ray player. I also would have thought Sony would push the PlayStation 3 as a budget Blu-ray player for a little longer before resorting to price cuts on Blu-ray players. You'd think Sony would rather people own a PlayStation 3, buying both movies and games (where Sony makes the real money), rather than just own a budget Blu-ray player.

Some might see the Blu-ray player price cut as an act of desperation to combat the cheaper HD DVD player, but I'd say it's a sign that war is shifting into new territory. It will be a few years before these players become cash-and-carry items, but Sony's move has just brought that day a bit closer.{moscomment}

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