Sony to launch Blu-ray LCD televisions

As looks for 50% BD marketshare in 2008

7 April 2008 12:36 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Sony will offer Blu-ray disc devices in a wider range of product lines and aims to increase the global market share of its BD products from 20% currently to 50% by the end of 2008, according to Sony president and Electronics CEO Ryoji Chubachi at a press conference in Taipei.

The new Blu-ray-flavoured devices to be offered by Sony include such models as "integrating an HD LCD TV with BD recording functionality", Chubachi said, which we assume means an integrated BD-RW drive.

Chubachi said that Sony has far relied mainly on the PlayStation 3 to promote Blu-ray and that the company expects sales of the game console to increase as more and more Blu-ray movies are released by top Hollywood studios.

Sony will also extend its BD promotion from the current focus on the PS3 and BD players/recorders to "IT devices", Chubachi said, presumably with BD drives offered in more VAIO notebooks.