Although the HD DVD video format was pronounced dead less than four weeks ago and Blu-ray has no other rival on the market, Blu-ray players’ prices have started to rise just like that. In February, the month when HD DVD’s main supporter, Toshiba, announced that it would no longer produce HD DVD players and recorders, the average price for the Blu-ray players jumped to $604. One month earlier, the average price for these devices was $467.

According to Darren Davis, the vice president of product marketing for the comparison-shopping web site PriceGrabber.com, the price increase was partly caused by the introduction of more expensive players with features that went above the norm. However, excepting this fact, in February, there has been still an increase between $20 and $50 on most Blu-ray players.

PriceGrabber.com’s vice president of product marketing also said that manufacturers should keep prices low, as “consumers are not going to jump into the market yet.” "The demise of HD DVD, if anything, is going to delay Blu-ray adoption, given the increase in prices," Darren Davis added.  

Although some anxious early adopters of the Blu-ray high def format would pay higher prices for their players, the mass adoption of the format would be delayed because of the recent price increase.

According to a survey conducted by PriceGrabber.com in January, it seems that most consumers refused to buy high def DVD players less because of confusion over the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray and more because of price reasons.

Toshiba officially announced that it would no longer produce or market HD DVD players and recorders on February 19.