MUMBAI: In a bid to strengthen its foothold in the Indian Blu-ray market, Sony India has launched a new range of players and DVDs, which have been economically priced.
The pricing of players with Blu-ray technology start at Rs 9990, whereas Blu-ray movie DVDs are priced at Rs 500 only.
Sony Picture Entertainment will also launch upto 500 Blu-ray movie titles in the coming months.
Blu-ray enabled products will be available in a wide range of products including Blu-ray Disc Players, Home Theatre systems, PlayStation3 and VAIO, which will provide High Definition (HD) picture and audio quality as well as internet connectivity to consumers.
Looking at a ten-fold growth in volume, Sony plans to capture 60% market share and increase number of outlets to 4000 by FY2012. The company is also offering a mega consumer promotion deal. On the purchase of every BD player worth Rs 9,990, consumers can avail two free Blu-ray movie discs of Legion and Michael Jackson’s This Is It.
Sony India managing director Masaru Tamagawa said, "Sony Blu-ray is poised to take over the market as the new benchmark for the next generation of audio-visual entertainment. Only with Sony, you can enjoy new audio-visual entertainment concept through a wide range of Blu-ray products with base price of Rs 9,990. As always, we continue to offer products and technologies that manifest innovation at its highest level as well as the ability to deliver the best customer experience to the world."
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment managing director Keith Ribeiro said, "Over the past decade, rapid growth in technology has evolved the way in which home entertainment and consumer electronic industry is perceived. A collaboration of these two industries can certainly promote cutting-edge media and entertainment devices. Blu-ray is paramount in delivering the best picture and sound quality and is a perfect complement for HDTV, the fastest growing category in consumer electronics. Hence, we have joined force with our counterpart at Sony electronics to help consumers discover the incredible potential of Blu-ray. We also plan to double the number of Software Titles to 500 by FY2010 to woo consumers. I am certain that this integration will further cement Sony’s unified presence as a leader in consumer electronics space."
Currently, Blu-ray movie discs of Hollywood films are priced in the range of Rs 1000 – Rs 1299. On the other hand, Yash Raj Films’ Blu- ray DVDs of its older films have been priced at Rs 599, whereas those of newer films are priced at Rs 699.
It remains to be seen how competitors like Excel Home Videos, BIG Home Video and Shemaroo Entertainment amongst others will react to this competitive price points of Blu-ray discs of English films.
