Black Friday Blu-ray deals begin to surface

We’re one week away from Black Friday, and it seems like consumers looking to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon don’t have to stand in line all night to save extra cash.

Sears.com now offers the Sharp Aquos BDHP21U Blu-ray player for $179.99, a $100 price decrease from the same site a few days ago.  It’s also possible to check availability of Sears locations and pick it up locally, although it’s very likely the player is sold out.

Wal-Mart will offer the Memorex MVBD2510 Blu-ray player for $128 on Black Friday, but most locations will likely have a limited supply and dozens of anxious shoppers looking to snatch it off the shelves.

There are unconfirmed rumors that select Blu-ray players — players without BD-Live — could drop below $100 in time for Christmas.  It seems that manufacturers and retailers don’t like the idea of having warehouses of standalone Blu-ray players sitting on shelves collecting dust, and consumers will be be the ones to benefit.

A quick tour of recent brick and mortar retailers revealed several stores, including Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart, which have Blu-ray players available for less than $230.

The cost of Blu-ray players has significantly dropped over the past six months, and will likely continue to drop until more users begin to adopt the HD format.  As digital streaming continues to knock on the door, expect sales and price reductions to continue in the immediate future, into 2009 and beyond.

The overall cost of Blu-ray movies may discourage some consumers from purchasing a Blu-ray player, but analysts expect movies to also drop in price leading up to Christmas.

Midwest super store Meijer will offer $9.99 select Blu-ray movies on Black Friday, but hasn’t listed which movies will be available for that price.

CDFreaks will post a Blu-ray Black Friday deals list next week, once Best Buy, Circuit City, and other retailers begin to unveil what products will be available for sale at lower prices.