Many users have decided to resist the more toxic aspects of online platforms by seeking physical copies of their favorite movies and series, but that is not enough to reverse trends. In fact, some manufacturers have decided to go along with the situation, and so we arrive at LG, which recently discontinued all its Blu-ray players. Its last models date back to 2018, and although there are still other players in the market, the news does not go down well…

The End of an Era? LG Discontinues Its Blu-ray Players
The End of an Era? LG Discontinues Its Blu-ray Players

A famous and uncomfortable phrase on the web says “you will pay for everything, and you will not own anything.” The main streaming services have encoded it into their DNA with subscription schemes (blocking any possibility of ownership from the beginning), but to that we add constant catalog changes and, of course, the arbitrary removal of any content previously 'purchased' once agreements fall apart.

LG Will No Longer Manufacture Blu-ray Players

The End of an Era? LG Discontinues Its Blu-ray Players
Blu-ray discs are on their way out, but there are still players beyond LG

Logically, many users have found a “refuge” in physical copies. Whether it's DVD, Blu-ray or Blu-ray UHD, those discs are immune to the whims of online platforms… but we need hardware to read them, and thus we discover the news that LG will stop manufacturing all its Blu-ray players. According to what was published by FlatPanelsHD, this decision also reaches the UBK80 and UBK90 models with 4K support, both presented in 2018.

Now, it is true that users tend to favor units from Sony and Panasonic, but with this change, LG joins the withdrawal of Oppo (in 2018) and Samsung (in 2019) from the player market. Still, LG Korea did not confirm a global exit from the optical universe, and it is not hard to find stock. A UBK80 player costs 250 euros on Amazon Spain, while in its US version we find the UBK90 for 379 dollars.

In other words, no, there is no need to rush out in desperation to buy Blu-ray players, but the news serves as a warning. Panasonic has not gone anywhere, and nothing prevents us from buying a console to cover the playback role, however, in this sickly era of licenses, plans, and subscriptions, LG's withdrawal has a certain bitter taste.

Sources: FlatPanelsHD, Tom's Hardware