LG Electronics finally stops manufacturing Blu-ray players, Blu-ray and DVD sales in the first half of 2024 will fall by about 22% year-on-year
LG discontinues all UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray players - FlatpanelsHD
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1733902062
LG stops making Blu-ray players, marking the end of an era — limited units remain while inventory lasts | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/lg-stops-making-blu-ray-players-marking-the-end-of-an-era-limited-units-remain-while-inventory-lasts
The optical disc onslaught continues, with LG quitting Blu-ray players - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/12/the-optical-disc-onslaught-continues-with-lg-quitting-blu-ray-players/
Blu-ray Disc and Ultra HD Blu-ray are optical discs that emerged as successors to DVDs and have become popular as optical discs that can record and play high-quality video. However, in recent years, subscription-based video distribution services and purchasing digital media have become common, and the demand for Blu-ray players has been decreasing year by year.
Finally, on December 11, 2024, FlatpanelsHD reported that LG Electronics had stopped manufacturing Blu-ray players and Ultra HD Blu-ray players. LG Electronics' latest Blu-ray players were the UBK80 and UBK90 UHD , announced in 2018, and although they have not released any new products since then, they have continued to manufacture them.
In a statement to FlatpanelsHD, LG Electronics did not say it was withdrawing from the optical disc player market altogether, but instead hinted at the possibility of returning to the market if demand recovers. As of the time of writing, LG Electronics Blu-ray players are available for purchase at retailers and online stores while supplies last.
LG Electronics is not the only company seeing declining interest in its Blu-ray business as consumers shift to streaming services. The optical disc market continues to shrink, withSamsung Electronics ceasing production of Blu-ray players in 2019 and Sony announcing it will end production of recordable Blu-ray discs in July 2024.
by arty822
According todata released in 2020 by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) , an industry group for technology companies, sales of optical disc players in the U.S. market exceeded 15 million units in 2015, but fell to just under 5.9 million units in 2019. In addition, Best Buy, a consumer electronics retailer , stopped selling DVDs and Blu-rays in 2024 , and rental shops have been withdrawing one after another, so consumers have fewer opportunities to obtain Blu-rays.
However, technology media Ars Technica argues that even in the age of streaming services, some users still prefer physical media. A report by the video manufacturer industry group The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) stated that sales of Blu-ray and DVD discs in the United States in the first half of 2024 decreased 22.2% compared to the first half of 2023, but sales of Blu-ray discs for collectors increased.
Digital sales of content are convenient for consumers, but due to changes in the platform's intentions or laws, purchased content may become inaccessible or may be altered. For this reason, purchasing digital content is also called ' purchase without ownership ,' and the game sales platform Steam now displays a notice that 'When you purchase a digital product, you are granting a license to the product on Steam.' This makes it clear that users do not own the game, but rather 'only acquire the right to use the game.'
Steam makes it clear in the shopping cart that 'users cannot acquire the game itself, but only the right to use the game,' in response to California's new law - GIGAZINE
Ars Technica pointed out that while LG Electronics' withdrawal from Blu-ray players narrows the range of options, Panasonic, Sony and others still sell them. 'The benefits of physical media still exist, so the end of LG Electronics' Blu-ray players is noteworthy, but not decisive for physical media enthusiasts,' it said.
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in Hardware, Posted by log1h_ik