The format war is over, Sony now wants to expand the presence of Blu-ray. The Sony boss says it’s time to start building Blu-ray  players in more product, including HDTVs. The story-between-the-lines is we’re probably about to see Blu-ray players at the bottom-end of the price spectrum.

Blu-ray players have already found their way into laptops, home computer systems and of course the PS3. Where else can Sony stuff a Blu-ray player? That’s the question Sony President Ryoji Chubachi asked spectators at a conference in Taipei.

Chubachi said Sony will begin production of a wide range of new product lines at a variety of price ranges. The company’s intention is to develop the global market share of Blu-ray by the end of 2008.

According to Chubachi, part of the company’s plan to extend the reach of its disc format will involve building a Blu-ray player/burner directly into HDTVs. That’s an interesting twist on the traditional TV/DVD combo.

Playback devices built directly into TVs doesn’t usually instill much confidence in the quality of either device. Most TVs with built-in DVD players or VCRs have been the bottom-end of their respective markets. But an HDTV with a Blu-ray burner sounds interesting.

Now that Sony is getting ready to bring Blu-ray into a wider range of consumer markets – it probably means that even cheaper Blu-ray players than we’re seeing today are just around the corner.