$39 Blu-ray Players and $99 Kindles -- Oh, My!

If you've been putting off buying a Blu-ray player because prices were too high, 2011 may be your favorite year. Same goes for shoppers craving an Amazon Kindle e-reader, a Nintendo Wii game console, or a 42-inch LCD TV. All will get fire-sale cheap this year.

That's the word from popular bargain-hunting site Dealnews, which predicts consumers will see lower prices for a lot of tech gear--most notably Blu-ray players priced as low as $39. In an article titled "12 Things That Will Cost Less in 2011," Dealnews editorial director Beth Pinsker reports that Blu-ray hardware is the new loss-leader: "You'll probably see a lot of Blu-Ray players bundled as extras with TVs, but you'll also see them as doorbusters and priced like crockpots," Pinsker writes.

Prices on Blu-ray prices have dropped precipitously in the past two years. In January 2009, low-end models of the high-def disc players sold for around $200. If dealnews' $39 prediction comes to pass, bargain Blu-ray players would cost less than some Blu-ray titles. Amazon, for instance, currently sells "Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series" for $53.99, and "The Ultimate Matrix Collection" for $44.99.

Dealnews' other 2011 price predictions include:

· The Kindle will drop to $99, but newer models will cost "slightly more"

· 42-inch LCD TVs will hit $299, effectively wiping out the market for 32-inch LCD TVs

· The Wii falls to $99 as new models arrive and competition forces prices down

· 15- to 16-inch dual core laptops reach $199; 17-inch dual-cores hit $399

· Mega-cheap storage: External 2TB USB drives sell for as little as $50

So who needs Black Friday?