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LG exits Blu-ray player market

LG discontinues Blu-ray player production (Image source: LG)
LG discontinues Blu-ray player production (Image source: LG)
LG ends Blu-ray player production, following previous exits by Oppo and Samsung. Despite superior video quality over streaming services, declining sales and shifting consumer preferences mark another milestone in physical media's decline, with only Sony and Panasonic remaining as major manufacturers.

LG Electronics has officially pulled the plug on its Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray player production, including the UBK80 and UBK90 models. This move follows similar decisions by Oppo back in 2018 and Samsung in 2019, leaving Panasonic and Sony as pretty much the only major manufacturers still making optical disc players.

Although LG hasn't made a clear statement about pulling out of the global market for good, their online stores show that they're no longer offering these players. Remaining stock will still be available in the U.S. and Europe, but only until the current inventory runs out.

LG's exit marks the end of an era for the company in the Blu-ray market, especially since they haven't released any new models in almost six years. The last models they launched were the UBK80 and UBK90 in 2018. This move reflects broader industry trends, though—sales of Blu-ray players have been dropping steadily for a while now, and UHD Blu-ray players hit their peak sales back in 2017, just a year after they were first introduced.

In the U.S., Blu-ray player sales dropped from 25.2 million units in 2014 to just 9.1 million in 2018. And in the third quarter of 2024, DVD and Blu-ray sales were down 26 percent compared to the previous year. 

This downward trend is largely driven by the rise of streaming services, even though Blu-ray still has an edge when it comes to video quality, offering bitrates up to 128 Mbps for 4K Ultra HD, compared to the typical 15-25 Mbps of streaming services.

Source(s)

FlatpanelsHD (in English) & Techspot (in English)

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Nathan Ali, 2024-12-12 (Update: 2024-12-13)