Recently, Sony announced that it would cease the production of physical game discs for its PlayStation consoles. Furthermore, it has been reported that the company’s final Blu-ray disc player model—the Sony UBP-X700/K—will no longer be restocked at online retailers in Japan, and its production has been discontinued.
As a Blu-ray disc player, the Sony UBP-X700/K model features support for various audiovisual technologies, including High Dynamic Range (HDR) video processing, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and wireless High-Resolution Audio, among others.
This "announcement" appears to be limited to the Japanese market for now, as the same Blu-ray player remains available for purchase in other regions. This also signifies that Sony is ceasing the production of all standalone Blu-ray disc player hardware, with the exception of the PlayStation 5 console.
Consequently, it appears that Sony is officially exiting the Blu-ray disc player market. In Japan, it seems that only Panasonic will continue to manufacture such devices. This is somewhat disheartening, given that Sony was one of the key companies responsible for the development and global adoption of the Blu-ray disc format.
