LG’s range of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players is coming to an end, at least for the time being. More details here.
Even as there’s been a swing of support towards physical disc media in recent months, and even as we hear optimistic noises about the sales of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs in particular, there’s still trouble around the corner. In this case the news that one of the last major manufacturers of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players is exiting the market. At least for the time being.
As per a report at FlashPanelsHD, LG is discontinuing its range of disc players, and that once existing stocks of its units are depleted, there are no immediate plans to manufacture more. There’s a slight olive branch that a formal cancellation hasn’t been announced, and that means there’s the possibility of starting production up in the future. But still, that seems like something of a long shot.
Samsung exited the market a few years ago, and hasn’t shown any signs of returning, nor will it. Sony has a vested interest in the Blu-ray format, so continues to make hardware, and Panasonic still has its foot in the game too. Disc players aren’t going to be disappearing, but it does seem further confirmation in the streaming era that physical media is a niche interest. A long way from the DVD boom, that we were talking about here.
It’s far from doom and gloom, though. The physical media release list for 2025 is already looking healthy, and all of the major studios are still making discs (even if some of them are going through other studios to do so). For the purposes of this story though, if you were in the market for an LG Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, it might be best to get your skates on.
More as we hear it. Not that we’re expecting to hear too much more in this instance.
