My guess is that Blu-ray players can’t cost more than $100 in order to become products for the masses and it seems that some of the good brands are (very) slowly getting there. Today Sharp in Japan announced the BD-HP21 [JP], a player that costs $430, making it the company’s cheapest. And for that price, the specs aren’t really that bad.
The player supports BD-LIVE and BONUS VIEW, video in 1080/60/24p and audio in Dolby-True HD/DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby NR. DVD upscaling (in 1080/60p) is also possible. The player is compatible to BD-RE/BD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-R/DVD＋RW/DVD＋R/CD-RW and CD-R discs. It also features one HDMI port and a USB port.
Sharp will start selling the BD-HP21 in Japan on March 1, but hasn’t said anything yet regarding a release outside Japan.