Sony Cuts Second-Gen Blu-ray Player Prices

By Nick Mokey Updated June 3, 2007

Sony Cuts Second-Gen Blu-ray Player Prices

It isn’t often that products show up to market with prices lower than originally announced, but that’s exactly what will be happening with Sony’s BDP-S300 Blu-ray player. The second-gen Blu-ray player was supposed to cost $599 when it was first announced in February, but Sony announced Monday that it was shaving $100 off that price to offer the BDP-S300 for $499.

Sony’s first Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1, went for a cool $1,000 when it came out just sixth months ago. The company says that the rapid 50 percent price drop is due to growing consumer demand and falling production costs. The rival HD-DVD format may also have something to do with it: Toshiba’s HD-A2 player can be had for $250.

The Playstation 3, which sells for as little as $499 and can play Blu-ray discs, is still responsible for most Blu-ray sales. That could change with the impending price war and rumors that companies like LG and Samsung working on dual-format players. The slow adoption of both formats is blamed on consumer hesitance to commit to a format that might not be sticking around.

The BDP-S300 should be showing up on store shelves sometime in June.

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With its stellar picture, impressive codec support, and affordable price tag, our team ranks Sony’s UBP-X700M as the best Blu-ray player currently on the market. But we understand that what works for someone else might not work for you. Depending on what you’re looking for, some of the other best Blu-ray players we’ve rounded up might be a much better fit.