Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest makers of consumer electronics, announced that it would delay commercial release of its Blu-ray disc player due to necessity to test the new Blu-ray discs with the new device. The player was originally expected to be commercially launched in “early spring”, then delayed to May and is finally expected to be available in late June, 2006.

A statement by Samsung Electronics said that the company’s first Blu-ray disc player will be available in the U.S. starting from June, 25, 2006, as the company needed to “complete compatibility testing with several Blu-Ray test discs that will become available in late April from product manufacturers and content providers.” Still, the company hopes to be the first in the USA market with its BD player, as the player from Sony Corp. is projected to reach stores in July.

“We still anticipate that the Samsung BD-P1000 will be the first Blu-Ray player to launch at a national level in the United Sates,” Samsung said in a statement.

Nevertheless, Pioneer may outstrip Samsung in terms of availability, as the company planned to begin supplies in June, this year. But Samsung’s device will be much more affordable: its BD-P1000 is expected to cost $999 in retail, whereas the Elite BDP-HD1 from Pioneer is projected to cost $1800.

While the development of the Samsung BD-P1000 had been complete by Consumer Electronics Show in early January, 2006, now the firm said it would upgrade maximum supported resolution by the player to 1080p (1920x1080, progressive scan) and also implement a more advanced memory card reader so that to allow viewing of high-resolution photos taken with different types of digital cameras.