Sony Drops Price of New Blu-ray Player

Sony on Monday said it is lowering the cost of its upcoming Blu-ray player to $499 USD. Although it claims the $100 price drop is due to falling production costs and growing demand, Sony's move is likely more in response to rising sales of HD DVD players.

Data indicates that player sales for HD DVD have increased by five to ten times depending on the retailer following its price drop to $299 USD. Sony had originally planned for the BDP-S300 player to retail for $599 USD.

At $499, the cost of the new player will be the same as the Sony PlayStation 3, which is also capable of Blu-ray disc playback. Data seems to indicate much of the format's strength comes from PS3 owners buying the discs.

"The BD format gained great momentum in the past several months, and we're going to capitalize on that with the new model," said Chris Fawcett, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics' Home Product Division.

Sony's entry-level player will support 1080p, and has essentially the same feature set as the company's high-end BDP-S1 in a smaller form factor. Sony also announced a price drop on that player to $799 USD.