According to a leaked memo allegedly sent by the company's US sales chief, LG has apparently abandoned plans to ship a Blu-ray player this Spring, and appears instead to be preparing a dual-mode system that incorporates HD DVD support too.
The spring release of the BD199 would have played well with Sony's May 23 launch date for Blu-ray content. Instead, the company will release a hybrid player that can playback both Blu-ray and HD-DVD content in late summer/early fall.
LG BD199 Blu-ray player
History :
LG launched the BD199 in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. At the time, it said the player would ship in Q2. However, the company was notable by its absence from a statement put out last week by Blu-ray backers preparing to release hardware and content on or after 23 May.
LG - which signed an optical disc drive pact with HD DVD leader Toshiba in February - now seems to believe a dual-format player would be a better product to ship than one supporting just one of the two rival next-generation formats.
The Memo :
The memo, cited by consumer electronics industry-watching website CE Pro, says the BD199 Blu-ray Disc player will not ship when originally intended because -
"In light of uncertainty in this early stage of the market for pre-recorded high-definition optical discs, we have decided not to introduce the BD199 as originally planned for this spring,".The LG memo says the company's dual-format player is planned for late Summer or early Autumn, according to CE Pro.
The spring release of the BD199 would have played well with Sony's May 23 launch date for Blu-ray content. Instead, the company will release a hybrid player that can playback both Blu-ray and HD-DVD content in late summer/early fall.
LG BD199 Blu-ray player
History :
LG launched the BD199 in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. At the time, it said the player would ship in Q2. However, the company was notable by its absence from a statement put out last week by Blu-ray backers preparing to release hardware and content on or after 23 May.
LG - which signed an optical disc drive pact with HD DVD leader Toshiba in February - now seems to believe a dual-format player would be a better product to ship than one supporting just one of the two rival next-generation formats.
The Memo :
The memo, cited by consumer electronics industry-watching website CE Pro, says the BD199 Blu-ray Disc player will not ship when originally intended because -
"In light of uncertainty in this early stage of the market for pre-recorded high-definition optical discs, we have decided not to introduce the BD199 as originally planned for this spring,".
