The war between high-definition DVD formats may be postponed as Samsung told the press of its intention to release a dual HD-DVD/Blu-Ray DVD player in Europe next month.
Industry insiders say the company will reportedly sell this dual format player at an estimated €400, bringing HD-DVD players to the mainstream, affordable consumer market.
Although Samsung has been supporting the Blu-Ray format, which has an exclusive distribution deal with most of Hollywood’s film studios, the electronics giant recently launched a notebook with a built-in HD-DVD drive.
The dual format player, the BD-UP5000, will compete with a similar product offering from LG Electronics, the BH-100, and is expected to cost much less.
LG launched its dual player in January of this year, and it retails at around US$1,199.
Meanwhile the second quarter results for Samsung’s spin-off company Samsung Electronics, is expected to reveal a fall in profits by 15pc.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s leading manufacturer of semiconductors, and is set to suffer from the recent drop in memory chip prices.
Analysts say that parent company, Samsung Group, will come in with a net profit of US$1.4bn, with a fall in operating profits seen as the worst since 2001.
By Marie Boran
