Samsung confirms it's ending Blu-ray player production

(Image credit: Samsung)

Samsung has confirmed it will no longer be making Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray players. The company last announced any new disc players at CES 2017 and has since been quiet in this category, instead focusing on TVs and smartphones.

Samsung told Forbes that it won't be making any new 4K Blu-ray players, which was later corroborated by US tech site, CNET, with a statement from the Korean company: "Samsung will no longer introduce new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray player models in the US market."

Samsung isn't the first company to drop-out of the disc market; Oppo stopped making its popular high-end Blu-ray players back in April 2018.

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At the start of the month, the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) reported relatively positive numbers, with the home entertainment market growing by 10 per cent in 2018. It was driven by digital film sales, which were up 36 per cent year on year, but physical formats still made up the majority (59 per cent) of transactional film and TV spend.

That said, it seems the 'superfans' still buying discs are perhaps in no great hurry to upgrade their Blu-ray player.

Samsung's move leaves LG, Panasonic, Pioneer and Sony as the main premium Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray player manufacturers, with the Pioneer UDP-LX500 recently impressing us at the premium end of the market.

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).