August 2026

Sony's Disc-Free Future & Dynaudio's Exit Signal Shifts In The Global Audio Industry
How gaming, Blu-ray, and loudspeaker market changes reveal deeper trends in digital rights, active speakers, and regional hi-fi demand.
Editorial By Alan Sircom

  A couple of interesting events took place this month, which have wider implications for the audio industry than might be seen from taking a surface view.

The first is that Sony announced that, as of 2028, the next generation of PlayStation will not feature any kind of disc-based system. Rumours abound that Project Helix, the replacement to Microsoft's Xbox, will also be discless. Nintendo stopped using discs when the Wii U was discontinued more than a decade ago. In addition, Sony recently called time on its recordable Blu-ray players and blank media.

In more tangiably audio-related news, Dynaudio announced that it was withdrawing its domestic product line from North America, just before its 50th anniversary. The company has said that it will be focusing its efforts on Europe and Asia, and will shut down its US subsidiary later this year.

Both have led to considerable amounts of hand-wringing across the board, but both are likely legitimate strategic moves, reflecting significant change in the market.

Sony's decisions in its gaming and recordable Blu-ray puts more nails in the coffin of magneto-optical disc replay across the board. However, that's not necessarily the reason for moving away from discs and the decision is likely one of cold, rights-based pragmatism.

In gaming, Digital Rights Management is uppermost; it's not simply preventing people from sharing or reselling games, but also about managing DLC (downloadable content). However, the bad news is if a game is withdrawn, its fan base no longer has any access to the material they purchased. Movie enthusiasts already know that feeling; movies like Cocoon, Short Cuts and Wild At Heart are 'almost' impossible to view on streaming services today. Fortunately, the popularity of LP makes 'rights limbo' problems less likely; it's hard to 'pull' a streamed piece of music that's freely available on LP.

Dynaudio's decision is similarly potentially based on a divergence in international equipment-buying decisions. We've noticed that the trend toward active loudspeaker systems that is proving ever more popular in Asia and Europe is not shared in the Americas. If that is a direction Dynaudio intends to explore in the coming years, then focusing its attention on markets receptive to that sort of product is a good idea. I would still prefer to see the brand a fully transnational one, but I can see why a company might choose that direction. And how we can so easily get the wrong idea.

Errata: In our last edition, we inadvertently published the wrong UK price of the Vinnie Rossi Brama integrated amplifier. The correct price is £52,500. Our apologies for any confusion caused.

Alan Sircom, Editor hi-fi+

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