Even though some analysts predicted availability of Blu-ray disc (BD) players for $49 on Black Friday, at present there are just a few offerings below $99 and the vast majority of BD players are still offered for $149.

Walmart plans to sell Magnavox NB500MG1F brand new Blu-ray disc player for $78 on Black Friday, according to the web-site of the store chain. Even though the player does not support loseless audio, it still sports BD profile 1.1, BonusView and so on. OnSale will offer refurbished Magnavox NB500MG9 for $99, which features BD profile 1.1 in addition to loseless audio support.

Rather surprisingly, Newegg.com, which is known for bargains on the PC market, does not plan to offer discounted Blu-ray players on Black Friday; nevertheless, the company has Lite-on BD-ROM for $68 in-stock.

Not all stores have issued their Black Friday advertisements yet and some companies may still offer extremely cheap BD players.

According to Consumer Electronics Association, Blu-ray disc playback devices sold 3.3 million units through the first three quarters of 2009, an increase of 13% over same period last year. Through the first three quarters of 2009, Blu-ray Disc set-top player sales grew 112% over same period last year. Blu-ray playback device households are nearly 11.7 million and include PlayStation 3 consoles. Approximately 80% of Blu-ray devices are BD-Live capable.

Tags: Blu-ray, Magnavox, Walmart