$200 Blu-ray players = 2009 at earliest

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9886656-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=dvdtown-20

Quote:
Patience, HD video fans. Those of you hoping that the defeat of HD DVD would usher in a new era of lower-priced Blu-ray players will have to wait at least until the next calendar year.

In comments made to reporters at a New York press gathering Wednesday morning, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said, "I don't think $200 is going to happen this year. Next year $200 could happen. We'll be at a $300 rate this year $299 will happen this year," according to Gizmodo.

There's been quite a bit of media discussion over whether or not Sony and other Blu-ray supporters will start cutting prices on standalone players in the aftermath of HD DVD's death. Seeing as how the answer is "no" from Sony for now, that decreases the likelihood that Blu-ray will make major inroads with mainstream consumers, as a plurality cite price as the biggest barrier to their purchase of an HD video player.

http://gizmodo.com/364186/sony-ceo-200-blu+ray-players-coming

Quote:
Everybody clamoring for a cheap Blu-ray player now that the format war is over might wanna bide their time with a sweet DVD upconverter—the $200-player Blu-ray cavalry is at least a year away, according to Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow, who we talked to today in New York. "I don't think $200 is going to happen this year. Next year $200 could happen. We'll be at a $300 rate this year. $299 will happen this year."

No cheap Chinese-made players will be flooding the market to push it down either, not until the BDA decides to license the tech to them, and Glasgow implied it's gonna be a while before that happens. Anyone else wants a license? Sure. But not them, in part it was indicated, because of piracy concerns. Not that the price matters too much right now, since Sony is "struggling to keep up with the demand."

FYI -

> FUNAI '$300' Blu-ray player by Q2

"The optical head for the unit will be provided by Sony and the core system will be the Matsushita / Panasonic UniPhier chipset."

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)