Blu-ray Players Now as Cheap as $59.99

Margins on the high-def format slipping fast as Amazon offers Sylvania hardware for less than the price of a family night out

When Blu-ray backers say the movie-disc format is moving at a faster pace than DVD, they’re absolutely right.

Less than four years after the launch of the high-definition format, Amazon.com is now offering a Sylvania Blu-ray player – model number NB 530SLX – for the low, low price of just $59.95.

The offering of the newly manufactured Sylvania product highlights the rather precipitous fall in pricing for Blu-ray hardware in software. Manufacturers and studios had hoped the margins on these products would hold up until Blu-ray had caught on in a big way with consumers.­­­

For its part, DVD had already been in the market for five years, and had already became widely popular, when no-name Taiwanese manufacturer began selling disc players at a then-unheard-of price of $79.99.

The Sylvania player is an early-generation model, which doesn’t include the Internet-connectivity, let alone the ability to play upcoming 3D releases.

However, the model was selling at around $200 just one year ago.

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