Ben-DutkaThe format war is over, which means we should start seeing cheaper Blu-Ray players. And according to Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow, who spoke to Gizmodo, a $200 player may arrive in 2009. In fact, he also confirmed they'd hit the $300 price point some time this year, which should be good news for everyone who hasn't yet made the leap into the high-def world.
Furthermore, it seems evident that "cheap Chinese-made players" won't be "flooding the market" in order to push the Blu-Ray format, as Glasgow said it would be a "while" before the BDA licenses the technology to them. As for the PS3, he maintains Sony's earlier position that more models are likely: "there's going to be continual evolvement in the PlayStation line." More from the meeting included encouraging statistics for both Sony and the Blu-Ray initiative: firstly, when people were asked what brand they think of when it comes to high-definition, Sony is "far and away the leader" at close to 36%, as opposed to the runner-up, which only secured 10%. About half of Sony's LCD HDTVs sold last year had full 1080p resolution, which of course benefit greatly from Blu-Ray. Oh, and lastly, Sony apparently isn't concerned about a recession.
All in all, ever since the Blu-Ray victory, the news has been saturated with all kinds of pro-Sony stats and numbers. Not exactly surprising, when you think about it.
