Sources: Sub-$200 Blu-ray Players Coming this Winter

Sources have indicated to Blu-ray.com that at least one company will offer a limited number of Blu-ray Disc players for under $200 this holiday season. These players would likely be offered during special "door buster" sales, like those commonly seen on the Friday after Thanksgiving - a day which retailers commonly refer to as "Black Friday".

These players will likely be entry-level BonusView (Profile v1.1) players that companies hope to empty from their inventory as BD-Live (Profile v2.0) players begin to saturate the market.

Additionally, recent industry whispers that Sony would be lowering the MSRP of their BDP-S350 and upcoming BDP-S550 also appear to be true, but may only be temporary. Official word has yet to be given from the consumer electronics company, but we have been informed that if these players do receive price reductions, the prices may not last long.

Blu-ray Disc companies are determined to make Blu-ray the hot item this holiday season. No longer competing with the HD DVD format, consumer electronics manufacturers and movie studios hope to lure consumers to the high definition format this Winter with inexpensive players and a wide variety of titles.

Note: As mentioned above, this information comes from trusted sources within the industry who are not speaking officially for their respective companies. It should not be considered official until an official press release confirms the information.