The optical disc onslaught continues, with LG quitting Blu-ray players

Speaking of staying the same, the content on Blu-ray and DVD won’t change after purchase either, as we’ve seen digital version of media.

Although the U.S. Blu-ray and DVD disc market is indeed declining, revenue for the U.S. Blu-ray and DVD disc market was $1.34 billion in the year to March 2023, according to market research organization Circana. Data for the first half of 2024 from entertainment trade association Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) found that while overall Blu-ray and DVD sales fell 22.2% during the period, there were some areas of growth:

Consumer demand for collectible disc formats such as SteelBooks continues to be strong, [or Blu-rays sold in collectible steel cases]grew by 44%, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog sales grew by 16%.

In addition, sales of new Blu-ray discs fell more slowly, at 14%, according to DEG. Take a look According to Circana, the best-selling Blu-ray discs for the week ended November 30 featured recent movies such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool and Wolverine, Topping the list.

It was only about a year ago that the hit film was released on 4K Blu-ray. Oppenheimer actually sold out.

There are options

For those interested in a new Blu-ray player, though, the options are more limited now that LG is out of the market, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Even though brands like Panasonic and Sony haven’t produced new Blu-ray players in years, they continue to sell them. The market still occasionally sees the launch of new products, e.g. Magnetar UPD900 It came out last year.

The demise of the LG Blu-ray player is noteworthy for physical media enthusiasts, but not decisive, as the advantages of physical media remain.

For those who no longer want to use a Blu-ray player, there is always the option of turning it into laser scanning microscope.