Catalog Blu-ray disc titles will wholesale for $17.95, about the same as DVDs when that format hit the market in 1997. New-release Blu-ray discs will wholesale for $23.45, a premium of 15%-20% over what suppliers were charging for new theatrical DVDs. Blu-ray discs likely will start showing up in stores by early summer, sources say. In advance of that, Sony is bowing a bundling concept to DVD and the Universal Media Disc (UMD) that it may migrate to Blu-ray.

Starting March 28, consumers can buy DVD-UMD combo packs of "The Grudge," "Resident Evil," "Underworld," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and MGM's "The Terminator" for just pennies more than Sony typically charges for a new DVD. A second batch of DVD-UMD combos -- "Ghostbusters," "Mad Max," "The Fifth Element" and "Snatch" -- arrives April 25, with a third wave is slated to come on the market in May. Each combo is priced at $28.95. Sony typically charges $24.96-$26.96 for new DVD releases, while titles new to UMD generally list for $19.95