According to this Dow Jones article out of Tokyo, by way of the Netherlands, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., better known by their brand name Panasonic, will begin bundling plasma TVs and Blu-ray Disc players at retailers in the US next week.

Masayuki Kozuka, a general manager in charge of the company’s storage device strategy, told Dow Jones that Matsushita may offer discounts on its Blu-Ray players to customer who buy its plasma TVs.

A company spokesman said the sales promotion would take place at U.S. retailers such as Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC) and Best Buy Co. (BBY).

The goal is to double their Blu-ray player share in the US, up from their current 10% (not counting the PS3). Additionally, Panasonic will introduce two new high end BD players to the US market in January. I’d guess that means we’ll see them at CES.

And it seems that ‘next week’ really means ‘this week’, as Best Buy is already offering $499.99 off select Panasonic TVs & Blu-Ray Disc Players from 12/9 to 12/15. You can get the 42″ 1080p TH-42PZ77U for $1,499.99 or th 50″ 1080p TH-50PZ77U for $2,399.99, and also effectively receive the DMP-BD30K BD Player free. (The player is $499.99, but the promo is a $499.99 savings.) This is a nice player, with full BD Profile 1.1 support.

If you were/are in the marker for a plasma TV anyway, I have to say that getting a very nice BD player free is certainly a nice bonus.

Article picked up from EngadgetHD.