While pundits have complained about the high price of Blu-ray hardware, the cost of Blu-ray players has so far fallen in line with that of early DVD players.
Three years after their release, the median price of DVD players on Black Friday in 1997 was US$248. Meanwhile three years after Blu-ray's release, the median price of Blu-ray players on Black Friday 2009 was US$221, according to figures from the Envisioning Group reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The figures don't take inflation into account, which would actually make today's Blu-ray players even better value. Once you converted US$248 for a DVD player in 1997 into today's prices, you'd be look at over US$300.
The fall in Blu-ray player prices is attributed in part to the dramatic drop in the price of laser components.
