A joint announcement yesterday may make the future of Blu-ray Disc sales brighter, as Sony, Philips, and Panasonic joined forces to create a single Blu-ray license.
Other members of the Blu-ray Disc Association will have to follow the three company’s lead if they expect a new license to take effect sometime this year.
The single license will combine all the patents needed to create Blu-ray players, which includes Blu-ray, DVD, and CD patents, and may cut down royalty payments by 40%. New fees for using the Blu-ray license will be $9.50 for a Blu-ray player, and $14 for a Blu-ray recorder.
A recent study from Futuresource Consulting predicts over 100 million Blu-ray Disc sales this year, an amount expected to almost triple the 24 million units sold in 2008.
