Looks like Oppo is not going to produce any more DVD only players.

Oppo Discontinues DVD Players

That interview was with the European OPPO, not the US. They are independently managed companies that share the same Chinese manufacturing resources. The US company seems to be more aggressive about new product development (the BDP-83 has been shipping in the states since last spring, but the BDP-831 is just now arriving in Europe). The US company also still has inventory of the 980H, although I don't expect that to last forever. I bet we're no more than six months away from seeing the 980H discontinued here.

Sad to say but you are probalby right.
I would like to see them continue with the 980 if for no other reason than to have a player that is affordable to the masses.
The 83 is a true universal player but it comes at a price that a lot of people may not be able to justify for their needs.
Makes you wonder how many of the 980s they are actually selling now.
I plan on keeping mine though if for nothing else other than a backup player.

Well, I also suspect that the BDP-83 won't be their only Blu-ray player forever. They won't be able to replace the 980H's price point with an OPPO Blu-ray player just yet, but they could scale back the BDP-83's platform and have a less expensive player that would be able to sell for somewhere between the 980H's $170 and the BDP-83's $500. I'm sure the market for a $170 DVD player has been shrinking lately, so it's very possible that OPPO has already made a final production run of 980H's and stockpiled a supply in their warehouse. They sold both the 981HD and 983H until their inventory ran out, but I have no idea how long those final production runs lasted.

You're right gonk! That was the European OPPO. In fact, I heard a news that they are launching their new blu-ray product this coming month.

Yes, for whatever reason the European OPPO never introduced either the BDP-83 or BDP-80, but they have decided to introduce the BDP-93 there in the near future.