Samsung and LG have decided to scease production of their respective players that can play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies, in a move to cut costs. "Since February this year, we have no longer been producing combo players that support the playback of HD-DVD and Blu-ray high-definition discs," a spokesperson from Samsung Electronics told The Korea Times, Monday.

He added a dramatic change in the business circumstances surrounding the next-generation storage devices since the beginning of this year has made it necessary for the company to make a "swift" decision on the matter.

In November last year, Samsung commercialized its BD-UP5000 combo HD disc player for U.S. consumers.

LG Electronics also plans to follow in the steps as its bigger local rival with a strong belief that the Blu-ray business will be more lucrative for the company.

"Surely, it is a very tough decision for us to halt the production of the combos, however, we will stop manufacturing the Super Blu series from the second half of this year," said a spokesman from LG Electronics.

At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, LG introduced its BH-100 Super Blu player. Its successor, the BH-200 Super Blu drew keen attention from U.S. consumers with its distinctive multi-format capabilities.

LG is expected to release a new Blu-ray player at the upcoming IFA show in Berlin, Germany.