Philips has released the BDP9000 Blu-ray player, which is currently available at Wal-Mart stores.

The player isn’t currently available at other retailers, but a Philips spokesperson says it will be in the future. “It’s not exclusive to Wal-Mart,” the spokesperson says, noting that as a first-generation player, the product has limited distribution.

The player was not affected by reported difficulties in manufacturing Blu-ray components, according to the spokesperson. When asked how the roll-out of the Blu-ray format has been so far, the spokesperson says in an e-mail to ElectronicHouse.com: “In our experience, having been one of the first to introduce DVD, this format introduction has been comparable.”

The player costs $999.99, but a quick search for the product online shows Walmart.com selling the player for $898.

In the next year, Philips has plans to release “next-generation players, a PC triple-writer and Blu-ray media (25GB and 50GB discs)” to consumers.

Update: See Philips representative John Morog discusses the BDP9000 in our exclusive EHX video interview