Samsung Lowers Price on Upcoming Dual-Format HD DVD, Blu-ray Player

It only seemed like a matter of time before Samsung would lower the MSRP of its upcoming BD-UP5000 Duo HD player to match LG's recently-announced price-cut for their dual format player.

Samsung now says its BD-UP5000 will hit stores sometime in the fourth quarter at a $999 street price -- down $50 from its previously announced MSRP of $1,049.

The price drop is the latest in a series of tit for tat pricing moves between Samsung and LG, who are both marketing dual-format players for the upcoming holiday season.

Samsung made the first move in July, when it announced that its BDP-UP5000 would hit the market priced at $1,049 -- $150 less than LG's BH100 (which had been priced at $1,199 since its launch earlier this year). LG responded in August by announcing its own $200 price drop for the BH100, and now things have come circle with Samsung matching LG's $999 price.

Earlier this week, LG announced a 2nd-Gen dual format player -- the BH200 -- which also carries the $999 pricetag.

Of course, even at $999, all three players remain more expensive than buying two separate standalone players (Toshiba's HD-A2 and Sony's BDP-S300 currently retail at a combined cost of $898), but with the holidays just around the corner, perhaps yet another dual-format player price drop is in our future. Stay tuned...

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