An indication of tipped price cuts is the fact that overseas Sony yesterday slashed the price of it's BDP-300 player by US$100 bringing the unit price down to US$499 - this is half what Sony's first Blu-ray player cost at its launch six months ago.
Sony said growing demand for the next generation technology and falling production costs had allowed for the price cut.
Electronics company Toshiba sells its rival high-definition (HD DVD) player format for less than US$300. Both companies have struggled to win customers for their respective systems as the battle of the formats is causing confusion, according to analysts. They believe customers will wait to see which one the market will settle for in an echo of the 1980s Betamax-VHS videotape battle.The BDP-S300 is a fully functional HD 1080p/24fps Blu-ray player that includes the advanced Dolby Digital Plus audio codec as well as BRAVIA Theatre Sync unified system operation and DVD and audio CD playback.
"The BD format gained great momentum in the past several months in the USA, and we're going to capitalize on that with the new model," said Chris Fawcett, Sony Home Products marketing VP. "The player gives a broader consumer segment the opportunity to experience the exceptional quality of Blu-ray Disc format at a competitive price."
