LG Sticks Another Nail In The Blu-Ray Coffin Dealing A Big Blow To Physical Media
In a sad but not all that unsurprising move, LG appears to be exiting the Blu-ray market by discontinuing all of its Blu-ray players, a move that echoes what companies like Samsung and OPPO had already done several years ago. It's another blow to physical media that's already on life support as the industry continues to shift to streaming platforms and digital downloads.
There are a couple of silver linings, though. One is that both Sony and Microsoft continue to offer Blu-ray drive options on their latest-generation game consoles (PlayStation 5/PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S, respectively). Video purists may scoff at the integrated solutions compared to higher end discrete Blu-ray players, but at least there remains an avenue outside of the second-hand market.
The other silver lining is that LG is leaving the door open to returning to the realm of Blu-ray players, if only slightly -- the folks at FlatPanelsHD said LG "stopped short of confirmed a definitive global exit from the optical disk player market" when reached for comment. A return does seem like a long shot, though if the resurgence of vinyl in the music industry has taught us anything, it's to never say never.
In the meantime, some markets continue to stock and sell LG's Blu-ray players, though only until they run out of inventory. After that, something would need to happen for LG to get back in the game. And for the record, the last time LG launched a new Blu-ray player was close to a decade ago, back in 2018 with its UBK90 and UBK80 models.
LG's move also follows Best Buy's reported decision earlier this year to phase out both Blu-ray and DVD disc sales. It still sells a few players online, but good luck finding any discs. Additionally, Redbox filed bankruptcy this year, signaling an end to physical movie rental kiosks.
Part of what blows about the slow death of physical media is that the convenience of streaming comes with notable some downsides, some bigger than others. We can debate the quality of streaming media, but the real concern is rights management. As we've seen happen, customers can lose access to movies and TV shows in their digital libraries if licensing agreements between the host and owner expires or changes. That's not a concern with physical media, as nobody is going to come knocking on your door to demand that you turn your Blu-ray collection over (at least we hope not).
What are you thoughts LG's exit on the continued phasing out of physical media in favor of digital and streaming? Sound off in the comments below!
