[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

Samsung will stop releasing new Blu-ray players in the U.S.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-t...u-ray-players/

Samsung will exit the U.S. Blu-ray player market — and has abandoned plans to introduce a new high-end 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray model that was originally meant for release later this year.

“Samsung will no longer introduce new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray player models in the U.S. market,” a Samsung spokesperson confirmed to Digital Trends. The statement implies that the company might continue to offer the devices in overseas markets like Europe, or even in neighboring markets like Canada and Mexico.

The move to stop making 4K Blu-ray players was originally reported by Forbes, with Samsung later confirming it will stop releasing all new Blu-ray players stateside. This comes shortly after Chinese maker Oppo Digital decided to do the same thing last year. The news is a little worrying for what it might say about the state of the still-young 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc market.

Normally, seeing a major brand like Samsung abandon an entire market would be a sure sign that the category was in trouble. After all, if Samsung can’t make money in a consumer tech area like home theater — which it has been dominating along with LG for years — how healthy could that market be? Yet, while regular Blu-ray may be growing stale, stats for 4K Blu-ray tell the opposite story: Sales of Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are on the rise, and support for the format from major Hollywood studios hasn’t ebbed at all, even though not every new movie is released as an Ultra HD Blu-ray.