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Toshiba halts HDDVD after Netflix/BestBuy/Walmart go Blu-Ray |
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Shino
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Age: 49
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 Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:39 am Post subject: |
| BK wrote: | In the Academy's defense, they aren't the ones who give awards to DVD releases. It was a third party who I will have to find a reference for.
We guessed that Best Buy was going Blu Ray when the HD-DVD players dropped half price, then this past week we started selling the 360 HD drive for $10 less than Microsoft posted. I was also told that the New York Times wrote an article recently that Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks were jumping ship, but it has yet to be run if it was written.
I kind of feel bad for Toshiba, but they deffinately lost this one. |
I was in Best Buy on Monday and I noticed that. They had it priced for $120 instead of the MSRP $130. Interesting.
However, from what I understand, they aren't going to stop carrying HD-DVD, they are just going to push Blu-ray as the High Def format of choice. Is that right BK?
| Sciler wrote: | | Unfortunately thats the nature of the beast. Its a part of the risk you take in this type of business. |
It's true, and it sucks for Toshiba. But in reality, Sony started working on their High def format shortly after DVD was released and a couple of years (I think) before Toshiba. They tried to get a joint format going, but Toshiba didn't want to budge on the thickness of the protective coat (even though the Blu-ray's thinner protective coat is as strong if not stranger than HDDVD's) or something like that. And, of course, Sony wouldn't want to downgrade to the lesser of the storage capacities.
In reality, it sucks for both of them. It's not like Sony and Toshiba are on bad terms. I mean the heart of the PS3, The Cell, was made by IBM, Sony AND Toshiba.
Either way, I'll be glad when there's only one format on the shelves so consumers will know what to buy. |
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BK
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject: |
It's tough to say right now. My best guess is that we're preparing for Blu Ray to completely take over by dumping out our HD-DVD stuff, albeit in a questionable manner. We've been having a constant non-advertised sale of HD-DVD's also (buy 1 get 1 free of certain titles), but Blu Ray has been dominating the ad's as far as next gen goes. I expect that within the next year our selection of HD-DVD hardware and movies will phase out. |
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Shino
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:39 pm Post subject: |
| BK wrote: | | It's tough to say right now. My best guess is that we're preparing for Blu Ray to completely take over by dumping out our HD-DVD stuff, albeit in a questionable manner. We've been having a constant non-advertised sale of HD-DVD's also (buy 1 get 1 free of certain titles), but Blu Ray has been dominating the ad's as far as next gen goes. I expect that within the next year our selection of HD-DVD hardware and movies will phase out. |
Honestly... I hope that is true with all retailers. |
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BK
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
I think that Fry's will be the next retailer to watch, followed by Circuit City. |
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Senkir
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: |
i have a feeling that the PS3 is eventually going to become my HiDef player of choice, much the way the PS2 was my DVD player for a while.
...whenever i scrape the money together, i mean. |
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Shino
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| Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:41 am Post subject: |
| Senkir wrote: | i have a feeling that the PS3 is eventually going to become my HiDef player of choice, much the way the PS2 was my DVD player for a while.
...whenever i scrape the money together, i mean. |
I'm the same way on both counts Senkir.
It also helps that the PS3 was the highest rated High Def movie player by Cnet. It's the best looking High def player out there. Even over the expensive stand alone units.
Not to mention it's upgradeable so you'll always get the new features and stuff.
If you go Blu-ray... PS3 is DEFINITELY the way to do it. |
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BK
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:24 am Post subject: |
Didn't want to start another thread for this since we're already discussing it here, but Toshiba gave up and apparently I missed Wal-Mart's announcement to go exclusively Blu-Ray. |
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Senkir
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject: |
awesome. i always secretly rooted for Blueray, if only because i thought it was awesome 3 years ago (or whenever i read about the technology in a science magazine). |
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Shino
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| Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:19 am Post subject: |
| BK wrote: | | Didn't want to start another thread for this since we're already discussing it here, but Toshiba gave up and apparently I missed Wal-Mart's announcement to go exclusively Blu-Ray. |
Yeah I saw the Walmart thing... just wasn't around online long enough to post about it.
Good find BK. I've updated the topic title to reflect your addition.
And good news.
I was hoping this wasn't far off. |
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Sciler
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| Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:33 am Post subject: |
| Quote: | Toshiba Quits HD DVD Business
By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) -- Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video.
"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo offices.
The move would make Blu-ray - backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and five major Hollywood movie studios - the winner in the battle over high-definition DVD formatting that began several years ago.
Nishida said last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.
"That had tremendous impact," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."
Warner joined Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox in that move.
Nishida said his company had confidence in HD DVD as a technology and tried to assure the estimated 1 million people, including some 600,000 people in North America, who already bought HD DVD machines by promising that Toshiba will continue to provide product support for the technology.
Both HD DVD and Blu-ray deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, which are more detailed and vivid than existing video technology. They are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players. But both formats play on high-definition TVs.
HD DVD was touted as being cheaper because it was more similar to previous video technology, while Blu-ray boasted bigger recording capacity.
Only one video format has been expected to emerge as the victor, much like VHS trumped Sony's Betamax in the video format battle of the 1980s.
Nishida said it was still uncertain what will happen with the Hollywood studios that signed to produce HD DVD movies, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.
Toshiba's pulling the plug on the technology is expected to reduce the number of new high-definition movies that people will be able to watch on HD DVD machines. Toshiba Corp. said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.
Sales in Blu-ray gadgets are now likely to pick up as consumers had held off in investing in the latest recorders and players because they didn't know which format would emerge dominant.
Despite being a possible blow to Toshiba's pride, the exit will probably lessen the potential damage in losses in HD DVD operations. Goldman Sachs has said pulling out would improve Toshiba's profitability between 40 billion yen and 50 billion yen ($370 million-$460 million) a year.
The reasons behind Blu-ray's triumph over HD DVD are complex, as marketing, management maneuvers and other factors are believed to have played into the shift to Blu-ray's favor that became more decisive during the critical holiday shopping season.
Once the balance starts tilting in favor of one in a format battle, then the domination tends to grow and become final, said Kazuharu Miura, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo.
"The trend became decisive I think this year," he said. "When Warner made its decision, it was basically over."
With movie studios increasingly lining up behind Blu-ray, retailers also began to stock more Blu-ray products.
Friday's decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware appeared to deal a final blow to the Toshiba format. Just five days earlier, Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD.
Several major American retailers had already made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.
Also adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.
HD DVD supporters included Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 game machine can play HD DVD movies, but the drive had to be bought separately, and Nishida said about 300,000 people have those.
Worldwide sales of personal computers with HD DVD drives total about 300,000 worldwide, including 140,000 in North America and 130,000 in Europe, he said.
Recently, the Blu-ray disc format has been gaining market share, especially in Japan. A study on fourth quarter sales last year by market researcher BCN Inc. found that by unit volume, Blu-ray made up 96 percent of Japanese sales.
Sony said it did not have numbers on how many Blu-ray players had been sold globally.
Toshiba's stock slipped 0.6 percent Tuesday to 824 yen after jumping 5.7 percent Monday amid reports that a decision was imminent. Sony shares climbed 2.2 percent to 5,010 yen after rising 1 percent Monday.
Also Tuesday, Toshiba said it plans to spend more than 1.7 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) for two plants in Japan to produce sophisticated chips called NAND flash memory, which are used in portable music players and cell phones. Production there will start in 2010.
© 2008 The Associated Press
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