DVD Players Cheaper Than Films

The falling cost of DVD players means some machines are now cheaper than the films they can play. Tesco`s own-brand model will hit stores this week priced at £17.97 as part of its "value electricals" range.

The tumbling cost of DVD players comes before the next generation of "high definition" machines hits stores later this year.

Tesco said its value electricals range was sourced directly from the manufacturers, cutting out the middle man and making the goods less expensive to sell.

Rival chain Asda said its cheapest DVD player was the Durabrand DVD1005 priced at £17.92 which went on sale in October.

The cheapest DVD player available on price comparison website pricerunner.co.uk today was an Apex model priced at £19.68.

Lisa Artemis, PR manager for the site which searches around 900 retailers except supermarkets, said prices were dropping at the "lower end" of the consumer electronics market on items such as DVD players.

"With the lower end of the market, with own-brands in places like supermarkets, I think people are trying to make them an impulse purchase. There is a battle to try to make them as cheap as possible," she said.

Tesco`s value electricals range also includes an iron, a toaster and a microwave.

The chain`s senior electrical buyer Matthew Finch said: "The Value DVD player is a great new addition to the range, one that we know our customers have been waiting for especially as we can offer it at a price that is cheaper than the market price of some DVDs."

Jason Jenkins, deputy editor of gadget magazine T3, said the technology world was braced for the launch of next generation Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs later this year.

The high definition discs will give a better quality picture than standard DVDs and will not be compatible with existing DVD players.

Mr Jenkins said: "In the same way that video is gradually going out and people are stopping selling video recorders, eventually that will happen with DVD.

"Eventually you will just buy a high definition player as a matter of course, but that is five to ten years away."

The first high definition players are due to go on sale in the US this summer and in the UK before Christmas, Mr Jenkins said.

Sony`s next console the PlayStation 3 contains Blu-Ray technology but will also be "backwards compatible" with older PlayStation games in other formats. The PS3 is set to launch worldwide in November.

Story source: utvlive.com.