Taipei, Taiwan - Sony (NYSE: SNE) plans to increase distribution of its Blu-ray Disc players this year and hopes its share of the total DVD market can increase from 20% to 50% by the end of this year, Digitimes reports. Sony Electronics CEO Ryoji Chubachi made the projection at a press conference in Taipei last week.

Standard DVD players still command 80% of the market, but Sony believes that new Blu-ray devices incorporated into HDTVs, rising PlayStation 3 sales and more Hollywood movies released on Blu-ray will help the format greatly increase its market share.

The company plans to extend its promotional support beyond the current PlayStation 3 and standalone Blu-ray players to other devices that include Blu-ray functionality.

Poll: Is it realistic that Blu-ray will have a 50% market share of all DVDs sold by the end of 2008?

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