Samsung Announces It Will No Longer Make 4K UHD or Blu-ray Players (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Not everyone has the data headroom and speed to do digital downloads. I' m not saying they can make discs exactly 1 for 1 competitive but charging 40 bucks is ridiculous. It is not like they have to build replication and authoring facilities from scratch. A lot of that infrastructure exists and would only require upgrading, not totally new facilities.

Unfortunately a lot of the infrastructure has been lost/shut down due to declining demand. There’s one plant left in Mexico, down from about a dozen in North America a decade ago.

If it’s becoming a more specialty product, they won’t be able to make it all up in volume. If fewer units are sold overall, those units will have to go for more. I don’t think discs are moving enough numbers for retailers to be as willing to use them as loss leaders like they were a decade ago.

Maybe $40 is high for a single title, but the Criterion model where the retail price is $40, but most vendors sell them for $30, and occasionally you can buy them for $20, is probably not that crazy (at least in my book). It’s not cheap, I wouldn’t argue otherwise, but it might be sustainable.

 

[John*Wells]

I'm not trying to be funny here but Are we coming to a point where Studios might start selling Season sets of stuff on Thumb drives ? I mean I prefer discs but I also subscribe to digital services (which Id like to do less of )

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Purchased my first 4K player late last year and purchased Planet Earth II, 2001 & Bridge on the River Kwai. I was very pleased with the picture so I hope more 4K discs will be released.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

What quality DVD-only players are being made these days? All I see now are the sub-$50 units that hardly last a year or so.

I'm actually hoping Samsung's exit leads to fewer to no el-cheapo players on the market. (It looks like Samsung's 4k player doesn't even have any sort of display on the front, which would drive me absolutely nuts. I want to be able to look over and see the playing time without bringing it up on the screen!) If the masses are going with streaming, the people still buying discs are the ones who care about quality and are willing to pay for it.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

What quality DVD-only players are being made these days? All I see now are the sub-$50 units that hardly last a year or so.

I'm actually hoping Samsung's exit leads to fewer to no el-cheapo players on the market. (It looks like Samsung's 4k player doesn't even have any sort of display on the front, which would drive me absolutely nuts. I want to be able to look over and see the playing time without bringing it up on the screen!) If the masses are going with streaming, the people still buying discs are the ones who care about quality and are willing to pay for it.

I agree about no display on the front of many players. It makes it look cheap.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Well I got my Samsung UBD-M7500 for 135 NEW from WALMART so I'm not sure why the complaint is they're too expensive. The software definitely is and I blame that on studios chaining these discs to multiformat releases to gouge prices.

 

[jcroy]

Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising, if Samsung doesn't consider optical disc players/drives to be a priority.

Back in 2016, Samsung's computer dvdr/bluray-r drive manufacturing business filed for bankruptcy. (The last batch of Samsung TSST made computer dvdr drives were manufactured in March 2016. Nothing since).

No signs that anybody purchased the Samsung TSST factory. Most likely it was liquidated, with everything auctioned off and/or thrown out to the garbage dump.

 

[jcroy]

I'm not trying to be funny here but Are we coming to a point where Studios might start selling Season sets of stuff on Thumb drives ? I mean I prefer discs but I also subscribe to digital services (which Id like to do less of )

If they were to sell physical flash drives with movies/episodes, most likely it would have heavy drm. At minimum using a public-key encryption type of system which would require an active internet connection, and a custom player.

 

[DaveF]

I'm not trying to be funny here but Are we coming to a point where Studios might start selling Season sets of stuff on Thumb drives ? I mean I prefer discs but I also subscribe to digital services (which Id like to do less of )

Never. Unless Nintendo inexplicably takes over the media content world. They're the only ones that think SD cards are a good idea for content distribution. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine introducing a new physical media that's more expensive than stamped plastic discs along the road to online distribution.

 

[DalekFlay]

This is a bummer but I'm not as freaked out by it as some. They didn't do Dolby Vision, and they have a very mass-market focus. This is yet another sign discs are quickly becoming niche, and that we're heading to a laserdisc style future alongside the mainstream streaming platforms, but I don't think it's some kind of "death is right around the corner!" thing like some on the internet are saying.

If Sony, LG or Panasonic stop though, that would be a little worse.

 

[Lord Dalek]

If Sony, LG or Panasonic stop though, that would be a little worse.

It's still pretty bad though. Samsung had the largest footprint in the market because they got in so quickly.

 

[David_B_K]

According to this article - https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-to-stop-making-4k-blu-ray-players-report-says/ Samsung is also ceasing to make regular Blu-ray as well.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I am a die-hard disc buyer but streaming has changed my behaviour. For example, I was intending to buy The House with a Clock in its Walls on 4k blu-ray, not having seen it. But, because I can now stream it, I didn't like it enough to buy the 4k disc. The discs are too expensive for speculative purchase.

 

[dpippel]

I am a die-hard disc buyer but streaming has changed my behaviour. For example, I was intending to buy The House with a Clock in its Walls on 4k blu-ray, not having seen it. But, because I can now stream it, I didn't like it enough to buy the 4k disc. The discs are too expensive for speculative purchase.

Not for me. I do blind buys on 4K UHD titles all the time. If I end up not liking the film, I either sell it here or on eBay and typically recover 50%-75% of my cost, depending on the title, making the whole experience about the same price as a rental or just a little bit more.

 

[B-ROLL]

Samsung was apparently first to the consumer market with a not-ready-for-prime-time player. I think (at least for me) they lost a lot of bleeding edge adopters who were the goto gurus for people who were looking for a "good" player. Word of mouth with a "soft" disc market sealed the deal ... Nuon anyone ...

 

[Angelo Colombus]

My first VCR was a Samsung but that was it for media players. Always bought Sony or Panasonic players. I even switched from Samsung to the iPhone recently.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

Just to be clear, I'm not happy to see any disc format fail. I'm certainly not happy that the 3D discs that I purchased will be unviewable in a few years. However, I still blame the studios for making physical discs uncompetitive in the present market. They have blown every major new physical format intro with their asinine mentality that they can price any new format as if it is still 1997.

As far as downloads and streaming goes, it remains to be seen if the inroads they have made will continue. Streaming is popular right now because there is a lot of content available for cheap in one or two places such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. It will be interesting to see what happens to that market penetration when a person has to have six streaming services to gain access to the same level of content.

I think the streaming wars are going to keep the physical media alive.

1) Networks aren't going to renew rights with Netflix. In there pathetic attempts to become the next Netflix they will keep their titles to themselves for their streaming services. I am really curious what Netflix content will be then.

2) People are going to start rebelling against having to sign up for so many services. We see that now, here, amongst the early adopters who don't want to maintain more than a couple streaming services. If we don't like that with higher income levels what will that mean for the masses.

3) People are going to slowly want better quality. The handwriting is out there. If you assume $300+ 4K sets in 5 years, then people are going to see just how atrocious lower quality video looks on those screens.
They will want to see better media on better screens.

4) Digital can't support that at current levels/pricing/service levels. What happens 5 years from now when the parents come home and the kids have killed the data cap by the middle of the month?
What will happen with streaming services when they needs to support millions of 1K/2K/4K level streams simultaneously?

5) The utter lack of owning with streams is going to bite back. When people can't watch their favorite show 4 years later some lights will start to go on.


As per Samsung.... well, great and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. They doubled down on a content war and lost. They also had a reputation for making crappy Blu-Ray players.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

The studios have never made a good enough case for why the masses need to go beyond DVD. If they wanted people to move on to the next format, they needed to stop making DVD's available years ago. People are still purchasing DVD-only players rather than buying a blu-ray player which would play both formats, let alone a 4K player.

Except 4K doesn't really matter outside of the world of large screens. Portable or vehicle systems on small screens provide a good enough display for the screaming kids. SpongeBob can only look so good.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

1. This is why Netflix has been spending so much on original content and producing so many films, series and comedy/concert specials. Netflix has been excelling at creating cultural moments that make their content “must see,” whether that’s Stranger Things or Bird Box or anything else they produce. I think they’ll be fine. They’re a 21st century HBO.

2. I do think subscription fatigue will be a problem and that there are too many services being announced. Much like superfluous cable channels, the ones that can’t find an audience will disappear, and others will consolidate. I think we’ll also see an increase in people who sign up to a service for one month, binge the content, and then cancel and move on to the next one. I already do that with HBO Now; I keep it active when the shows I watch are in season, and then cancel as soon as the season ends.

3. I’m not convinced that a general/wise audience cares that much about quality. We’re long into the HDTV era, and yet, standard definition DVD still outsells BD and UHD discs. If quality was so important to a mass audience, why do budget TVs outsell mid- and high-end models? Most people’s “good enough” is below what enthusiasts like us find acceptable.

4. The streaming services will be able to handle the demand from their end. If net neutrality isn’t reinstated though, ISPs could start charging more for streaming video content and that could raise prices for customers. In the past, before net neutrality had been instituted, Netflix paid service providers directly for better quality service. The most successful services, like Netflix, would probably resume doing that, and the lesser services would probably lose some market share.

5) I don’t think ownership is nearly as important to most people as it is to enthusiasts like us. Subscription streaming services are successful in part because the general audience is rejecting a la carte pricing for content. They are speaking with their wallets and saying they’d rather have more access to a broader array of ever-changing content rather than buying fewer items individually and rewatching them again and again.

Additionally, a streaming subscription service like Netflix isn’t meant to replace ownership. It’s the 21st century equivalent to having an HBO subscription. Digital ownership is still available - if you want to purchase a film or show, you use a service like iTunes or Vudu. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime... these things aren’t meant to replace physical media ownership. They’re meant to replace a cable subscription. iTunes purchase are meant to replace physical media ownership.

 

[The Drifter]

I'm not surprised by the news that Samsung won't be making Blu players anymore; streaming has definitely gotten a lot more popular in the last 5-7 years, and yes - less people are buying players because of this.

However, there are other companies that make these, and you can always buy Blu players from them.

I myself watch both physical media (DVD's/Blu's) and also stream - there's nothing that says you can't do both.

I still think physical media will still be around for a long time to come, in some capacity. However, it sounds like it may already becoming a "niche" product, to some extent.

That all being said, note that DVD & Blu players are still a lot more popular & more utilized than LD players & LD's ever were. And, I still see Blu's/DVD's for sale @ brick & mortar stores like Wal-mart, Target, Big Lots, etc. So, there are people out there who still use these formats - though the shelf space for these has definitely shrunk in the past 5 years.