With the World Cup now officially over, what do Europeans have to look forward to? It's definitely not Blu-ray, as many companies in the Blu-ray camp won't be ready to deploy into Europe until January 2007. Pioneer says it doesn't have any "concrete" plans for their European launch, but they'd have something figured out by CES 2007 in January.
Luckily things look better for the US Market and we won't have to wait until 2007 to get our next-gen fix. The cause for this delay can probably be placed onto the shoulders of the PS3, as the "yields for Blu-ray laser diodes are still low due to a high technical barrier, with only Sony and Nichia being the only suppliers". With the PS3 being a must-sell by 2006, every other manufacturer gets the back seat until yields are up. Thanks Sony! You deserve a Zidane special for that one.