Sony Plans to Launch HDTVs with Integrated Blu-ray Players

Sony has made an exciting announcement for those that are looking to save space while still enjoying the full home theater effect – they will be launching an LCD HD television that comes complete with an integrated Blu-ray disc player. In fact, CEO of Sony Electronics, Ryoji Chubachi, said that the company will be integrating Blu-ray technology into many of its products.

Although the idea of integrating DVD players into televisions is nothing new, Sony’s move will be the first time a high definition television contained a Blu-ray player as well. So far, Sony has not named an actual launch date for the television and they have not indicated how much the combo will cost. They have, however, said that they plan to launch Blu-ray products that fit within a variety of different price ranges and budgets.

According to Sony, the company goal is to try to help Blu-ray capture 50% of the market share by the end of the year. Currently, Blu-ray accounts for 20% of the market, with DVD having the other 80%. So far, Sony has relied primarily on the Playstation 3 for increasing the market share of Blu-ray players, but the company hopes to take advantage of the recent increased interest in Blu-ray technology.

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