Two notable events over the past week involve the release of more-affordable products enabling people to consume digital content: the arrival of a $298 Blu-ray player at Wal-Mart and the release of the $99 Netflix Player by Roku. Each represents a significant milestone within its respective fold, but what is their overall significance to the mainstream consumer?
First, Wal-Mart began stocking shelves last week with the $298 Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray Disc player. Built by Funai, the player is the first and only device within a crop of newer models from Samsung, Philips and Sony that breaks the $300 barrier. Though sub-$300 players appeared briefly at the end of 2007 from Sony and Samsung at the height of the format war, entry-level pricing returned to $399 shortly thereafter. Price has long been lamented as a significant hindrance to the mainstream adoption of Blu-ray, borne out by NPD consumer survey research over the last year. Moreover, NPD’s research also revealed that consumers also weren’t buying Blu-ray due to satisfaction with existing standard definition DVD. In the face of these attitudes, and with 1080p upscaling DVD players already as low as $35 at Wal-Mart, the release of a $298 Blu-ray player with movies that are 50-100% more expensive may not seem like significant progress.
Filed under: Notebook Reviews
[...] Joe Cox wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptTwo notable events over the past week involve the release of more-affordable products enabling people to consume digital content: the arrival of a $298 Blu-ray player at Wal-Mart and the release of the $99 Netflix Player by Roku. … [...]