Samsung Ships the First Blu-Ray Player

The format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has finally reached consumers, now that Samsung is shipping the BD-P1000 Blu-Ray player to retailers. The BD-P1000 ($999.99 list), will go on sale June 25th, making it the first Blu-Ray player to hit the market. Until now, the only high-definition video player shoppers could buy has been the Toshiba HD-A1, which has been in short supply.

The BD-P1000 is twice the price of the HD-A1, but Jim Sanduski, senior vice president of marketing for Samsung's Audio and Video Products Group, says that won't hurt sales. "Dealer demand is really strong," Sanduski says. "Yes, we are double the price of HD-DVD, but we are confident people will buy as many as we can build."

The Samsung BD-P1000 supports full 1080p playback, something the first generation of HD-DVD players do not.

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