Blu-ray media lovers will be disappointed to learn that the market has seen yet another exit, with the French company Reavon announcing that it has stopped manufacturing UHD Blu-ray players.
Reavon says it made this decision due to a shortage of necessary components. It told CE Critic that it has “no plans for replacement models” because of a lack of specific parts it needs to build them.
The company emerged in 2021, launching two high-end 4K Blu-ray players in an effort to fill in the gap left in the market by Oppo’s decision to stop making the hardware needed to play Blu-ray discs in 2018.
Reavon's best-rated model was the UBR-X100, which received impressive reviews thanks to its high-quality pictures and its extensive range of features, although it did lack HDR10+ support.
Reavon competed against a company called Magnetar, which is also focused on producing high-end UHD Blu-ray players. With Reavon’s exit, it means that Magnetar is now the only recognisable manufacturer of these products.
The announcement is not all that surprising, because brands have been exiting the Blu-ray business left, right and centre in recent years. Samsung quit in 2019, and it was followed by LG Electronics and Pioneer, which both said last year they’re no longer going to make Blu-ray players. These exits are in-line with a trend that has seen fewer and fewer consumers consume physical media, with most embracing streaming services instead.
The issue is that 4K Blu-ray discs tend to produce superor picture quality than streaming services, so the slow death of physical media is a bitter blow for anyone who wants to enjoy cinematic, high-fidelity viewing experiences at home.
Still, there are a few options left. Magnetar is still carrying the torch, with its most recent model being the UDP900 that launched in 2023, with a sky-high price tag of £2,699.
Panasonic and Sony also continue to sell much more affordable UHD Blu-ray disc players, although neither company has announced a new model for quite some time.
