Samsung Electronics lowered the retail price for its Blu-ray Disc (BD) player BP-1000 by about 48% to US$469.99 in late March of 2007 and in response, Toshiba immediately reduced the US retail price for its entry-level HD DVD player HD-A2 to US$399. The price competition will lead to the situation that many BD and HD DVD player models will be launched at US$499 or less during the second half of the year, according to Taiwan makers of optical disc drives.
With US$500 regarded as an indicator of market acceptance for optical disc drives, BD or HD DVD players for sale at US$499 or lower were originally expected to come up in the fourth quarter of 2007, the sources indicated. However, Toshiba took the initiative to launch an entry-level HD DVD player, HD-E1, at a retail price of US$499 early in March 2007, triggering the US$499 price competition two quarters earlier than originally expected, the sources pointed out.
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News source: DigiTimes
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