Panasonic Blu-ray player expected next month

Although Panasonic's first Blu-ray Disc player is set to hit stores this October, Harvey Norman is not holding its breath.

"We've seen nothing to let us know when Panasonic will be shipping the players," marketing manager, Ross Morgan said. "All we know is that Panasonic plans to launch in late October."

As such, Harvy Norman is yet to place any orders for the DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Disc player. Wholesale pricing for the player has yet to be announced.

"Until that happens we can't say whether or not we will be selling Blu-ray players by the end of October," Morgan said.

Regardless of the supply issues, Morgan said the DMP-BD10 would eventually be a hit with early adopters. Despite a dearth of launch titles, he predicted Blu-ray would prevail over rival technology, HD DVD.

"From what we know, there will be about 20 Blu-ray titles at launch which will definitely limit sales," he said. "But Blu-ray has so many more teams in its camp in terms of movie studios and manufacturers that it will probably win out over HD DVD."

Harvey Norman expects to sell about 1500 Panasonic Blu-ray Disc players in the first two months of release. The DMP-BD10 will retail for $2749.

Panasonic also announced a Blu-ray Disc High Definition Home Theatre to be launching in conjunction with the DMP-BD10. It consists of the Blu-ray Disc player, Blu-ray Disc receiver and a home theatre speaker system. However, components will be sold separately.