Why is Oppo stopping products.

Hi basement,

     I'm not certain how well the Oppo 205 was selling prior to the announcement but supplies seemed to be low, with the price rising substantially for still available units, almost immediately after the announcement.  No surprise there but I don't think Oppo was overly concerned about not selling all their remaining units.
     I agree with you that the top Oppo models have been excellent performers for years and occupy a unique segment in the blu-ray player market; high-end audio and video performance, playback of almost any silver disc type, excellent dacs, very good surround processing of music and ht, 4k video upscaling and streamer/player for all digital sources and files from CD 16/44 to DSD.  A hi-end jack of all trades for an affordable original price of $1,400.  
     I also agree that they don't appear to be a company on the way out.  I think what we're witnessing is a very competent company, that has made a decision for their unknown specific reasons to exit the market at the top of their game, exiting the market in a very competent manner.  No excessive remaining unsold inventory and one planned final production run to satisfy remaining demand and maximize profits.
     I too hate to see them go but I did signup fairly early on their website for notification once the final production run of 205s are available for purchase. 
     I'd like to be more assured I'll be able to buy one of these final 205s so I'm going to inquire if prepayment to reserve one is an available option.
     I'm also a bit concerned about whether the 205 will function just as well as my 105 has while just adding 4K video playback.  But I'm going to start a new thread asking for assistance on this today. Any assistance from those on this thread that already own, or are knowledgeable about, the 205 will be definitely welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks
Tim 

@prpixel , IMO, I  believe OPPO dropped streaming apps on 203/205 players because getting firmware updates into the apps themselves was technically challenging and or had to many copyright laws. When using a Roku 4 with 103, I found the Netflix/Pandora apps on OPPO to be older versions, and Roku 4 performed better.

Sad to see them go, I purchased my first product from them, a UDP-203, and I’ve been very happy with it.  I bought mine as soon as it was released based on their reputation.  

On the bright side the Panasonic players have been reviewed as being as good as the Oppos when it comes to video quality.  As far as audio goes, as long as it has HDMI one should be as good as any other and you just rely on your AVR to handle the DAC stuff.  

For those that were using them in 2-channel systems there may not be easy answers for replacements though. 

I’m surprised they shut down the whole audio electronics side though, headphones and DACs are a booming business, and the Oppo headphones were well regarded. 

Jeffery,

I spoke to Oppo about the reasoning for dropping the apps.  First, it was a challenge to try to keep them up to date.  The other issue was the licensing fees.  They didn't think that most people really used the apps all that much and it wasn't worth the hassle and expense.  They actually recommended that I buy a Roku.  I picked up a Roku Premiere+ for streaming duties.  It's OK, but the audio quality is disappointing. Roku does do a good job of supporting the device and keeping things up to date.  

Most TV and Blu-ray manufacturers only support the built in apps for a few years anyway.  After that, you end of purchasing a Roku anyway.  Someone goes out and buys a $10000 TV and three years later you tell them that they have to strap a $100 Roku to it for Netflix and they look at you like you're crazy.  It's either that, it toss your TV and buy a new one.  

@prpixel 

The way I look at it you should get the best device to perform the function that you're looking for it to accomplish.  Let the disc player be the best disc player it can be, and for apps get the best streaming box you can, whether that be a Roku, Apple TV, nVidia Shield, Fire TV, or whatever else your preference is.  Any of the dedicated streaming boxes will give you a much better experience than the built-in apps on a disc player, and all of the major companies offer streaming boxes with 4K HDR support these days.