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In Another Blow to Physical Media, Samsung Is Done Making Blu-ray Players

In bad news for proponents of physical media, Samsung has announced that it is exiting the Blu-ray market. The company said it “will no longer introduce new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray player models in the US market” in a statement shared with CNET. Its newest model was released in 2017, and plans to produce a new high-end 4K player this year were scrapped. The move follows a similar decision by Oppo, which announced its own exit from the market last April.

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In addition to the fact that streaming movies and TV shows has become the norm over the last several years, Blu-ray hasn’t managed to fully replace DVD as the go-to form of physical media in the way that DVD did to VHS — even after besting the short-lived HD DVD in a format war 11 years ago. Any number of high-profile and/or well received movies have yet to be released on Blu-ray as a result, from James Cameron’s “The Abyss” and “True Lies” to Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” and William Wyler’s “Roman Holiday,” among many others.

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According to The Numbers, “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” was the best-selling Blu-ray of 2018 with a little more than three million units sold. It was followed closely by “Black Panther,” with “Avengers: Infinity War,” “The Greatest Showman,” and “Thor: Ragnarok” rounding out the top five; “The Greatest Showman” was the year’s most successful DVD release, meanwhile, having sold nearly 1.9 million units.