Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say

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534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#111548 19-Feb-2008 10:37

rhysb: Actually Toshiba are denying the rumour. It appears to have been started by an over enthusiastic Blu-Ray supporter.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Toshiba_denies_rumors_HD_DVD_not_dead_yet/1203352277

I think it's all over bar the shouting and that should come some time this week. Investors have made it clear with a stock price increase of 5% that they are happy Toshiba is pulling out of the battle. Ironically Sony only rose 1%.

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stuzzo

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Ultimate Geek

#111577 19-Feb-2008 13:43

Might as well flog this horse right to the end.

From The Digital Bits:

"Japanese news site Nikkei.net has just announced that Toshiba's plan is to immediately stop manufacturing all HD-DVD products (both players and recorders), and to stop selling them at end of March. The official announcement will happen at the press conference set for 5 PM Tokyo time."

stuzzo

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#111698 19-Feb-2008 21:54

Well, you've probably heard by now. It's all over.

A day that will go down in history with the likes of the Kennedy assasination, the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin wall, the resignation of Fidel Castro

.

"TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD."

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#111758 20-Feb-2008 07:04

hey people experts, what does that mean to us?

1) does it mean everything will be in blu ray now?

2) will hd dvd players sell at whopping discounts?

3) is it worth buying an hd dvd player if it is heavily discounted?

sbiddle

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#111765 20-Feb-2008 07:59

joker97: hey people experts, what does that mean to us?

1) does it mean everything will be in blu ray now?

2) will hd dvd players sell at whopping discounts?

3) is it worth buying an hd dvd player if it is heavily discounted?

1) Probably

2) Probably

3) If you want an expensive door stop! You can pretty much assume that very little HD-DVD content will be released now which is going to mean there won't be much to play!

stuzzo

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Ultimate Geek

#111767 20-Feb-2008 08:04

I don't think Blu-ray movies will rush off the shelves if the standard price stays at around $50.

Studios need to see high def. investment as a means of reinvigorating a market that was sagging anyway. They will have to ensure that quality is such a premium that it will become a format of choice and keep illegal file sharing etc at bay.

heavenlywild

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#111771 20-Feb-2008 08:07

stuzzo: I don't think Blu-ray movies will rush off the shelves if the standard price stays at around $50.

I agree. Why are Blu-ray movies so expensive? Sure, it is better than your standard DVD but it still doesn't warrant the high price tag. I would go for the standard DVDs anyday, until they lower the Blu-ray movies by at least 25%.

steve98

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#111775 20-Feb-2008 08:22

heavenly_wild:
stuzzo: I don't think Blu-ray movies will rush off the shelves if the standard price stays at around $50.

I agree. Why are Blu-ray movies so expensive? Sure, it is better than your standard DVD but it still doesn't warrant the high price tag. I would go for the standard DVDs anyday, until they lower the Blu-ray movies by at least 25%.

You're forgetting that DVDs were this expensive 8 years ago as well. Once adoption of the format has reached critical mass like DVD did circa 2002 you can certainly expect prices to be at a similar level to what you'd expect to pay for a DVD today. Give it time.

AmooMan

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Ultimate Geek

#111780 20-Feb-2008 08:47

Not sure where you guys are buying blu-ray.. but all the discs i have bought are around $25-35.
Back in the day i remeber the first Standard Movies on DVD were around $30-40 mark im sure.

old3eyes

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#111781 20-Feb-2008 08:48

heavenly_wild:
stuzzo: I don't think Blu-ray movies will rush off the shelves if the standard price stays at around $50.

I agree. Why are Blu-ray movies so expensive? Sure, it is better than your standard DVD but it still doesn't warrant the high price tag. I would go for the standard DVDs anyday, until they lower the Blu-ray movies by at least 25%.

One reason in NZ is regional coding of Blu-ray. Sony and all have us by the balls with this knowing that any BD players purchased here can't play cheaper Amazon sourced US / Japanese region A movies. The BD+ software also takes care of any players that have been modified to break regional coding. So unless I can get a region free BD player like I can with normal DVD and HD DVD they will stay on the shelf..

Regards,

Old3eyes

rhysb

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#111798 20-Feb-2008 10:10

Anydvd can strip the region coding if you are using a PC for playback.

RIP HD-DVD, we hardly knew you.

lchiu7

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#111814 20-Feb-2008 10:45

old3eyes: [...

One reason in NZ is regional coding of Blu-ray. Sony and all have us by the balls with this knowing that any BD players purchased here can't play cheaper Amazon sourced US / Japanese region A movies. The BD+ software also takes care of any players that have been modified to break regional coding. So unless I can get a region free BD player like I can with normal DVD and HD DVD they will stay on the shelf..

I have a US PS3 so I buy all my titles from Amazon or other places. WIth so many BOGO deals on and 50% off the prices for the discs have been relatively competitive even with the shipping (the high NZD versus NZD helps). I have friends who have either local PS3's or other local BR players. They often borrow my discs and so far have encountered very few where the region coding is actually active.

When they purchase titles from Amazon they often check this list first

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

NZtechfreak

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#111820 20-Feb-2008 11:01

lchiu7: When they purchase titles from Amazon they often check this list first

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

Thanks for that, will be very useful when I pick up a PS3 (hopefully soon once the PVR support is formally announced/released).

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

old3eyes

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#111835 20-Feb-2008 12:41

NZtechfreak:
lchiu7: When they purchase titles from Amazon they often check this list first

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

Thanks for that, will be very useful when I pick up a PS3 (hopefully soon once the PVR support is formally announced/released).

Saw the item about PlayTV yesterday but could fingure out if it support HD or only SD.

Regards,

Old3eyes

stuzzo

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#111839 20-Feb-2008 12:59

Saw the item about PlayTV yesterday but could fingure out if it support HD or only SD.

It's to be used with digital terrestrial so should support HD.

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