Samsung has just put another nail in the coffin for physical discs, announcing they’ll no longer make new Blu-ray players.
According to Forbes, the tech giant will no longer produce their 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray players. These players were released in 2017 and they supported streaming service apps as well as the physical discs.
With no new disc arriving in the last year, it’s abundantly clear Samsung will be discontinuing production of any new players.
These rumours were then confirmed by CNET who were told by a Samsung spokesperson this was the inevitable end:
Samsung will no longer introduce new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray player models in the US market.
With the rise of streaming services around the world being used for listening to music and watching television, this could be the start of the decline in physical disc production.
Samsung loads most of its smart TVs with the applications for streaming services already integrated, conveniently cutting out the need for a disc player.
If you’re still wanting to watch movies on Blu-ray, Sony and Panasonic are still making players compatible with discs. How long they decide to continue making the devices is uncertain though.
Of course, Samsung may still want to continue producing its existing players in other markets, where streaming services aren’t popular due to licensing reasons.
In the US, 66 per-cent of all TV watching households have a DVD/Blu-ray player, according to a report from Nielsen in 2018. The report also says the average US adult spends just five minutes a day using a Blu-ray or DVD player.
Samsung have clearly looked at similar figures and realised discs are on the decline, with more people switching to streaming alternatives.
It could only be a matter of time before all all forms of physical discs are frozen out.
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Matt Weston is a lover of electric cars, artificial intelligence and space. From Cornwall, he’s a UCLan graduate that still dreams of being a Formula One driver in the very near future. Previously work includes reporting for regional newspapers and freelance video for the International Business Times.