Blu-ray Player Prices Falling By Scott Wilkinson May 19, 2008 — It seems that predictions of higher Blu-ray player prices now that the HD DVD competition has been eliminated are somewhat unfounded. Wal-Mart just announced it will sell a Magnavox-branded Blu-ray player for under $300 starting May 26. The NB500MG9, which is built by Funai, will conform to BD Profile 1.1 with picture-in-picture functionality.

The same player will also be sold by Best Buy under the company's Insignia house brand starting in July. However, the price will be around $350, which is still less than the least-expensive PS3 at $400.

Despite Blu-ray's victory over HD DVD, the format's real competition is good ol' DVD, which offers much less-expensive players and media that many consumers say is good enough, even on their new HDTVs. In my opinion, anyone who takes that position has never seen Blu-ray in all its glory; nevertheless, this remains the biggest hurdle to widespread adoption of the new format. The announcements from Wal-Mart and Best Buy could help Blu-ray meet the challenge of DVD, as long as disc prices start falling as well.