Toshiba gearing up to drop HD DVD?
By Darren Murph 
posted February 14th 2008 8:34PM
posted February 14th 2008 8:34PM
[Via Home Media Magazine, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted February 14th 2008 8:34PM
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BINGO!
But Blu-Tools don't understand that.. Just watch them stand silently when Dark Knight comes out on HD DVD too. That's gonna be a RIOT!!
So assuming Dark Knight appears on HD DVD, you think Blu Ray fans will weep at the lower bitrate and less features of the same title on a dead rival format?
Maybe you and Truth Teller can singlehandedly persuade WB to support HD DVD by buying 10,000 copies a piece.
yeah i do recall sony selling hte manufacture of those cell chips to toshiba (Which i believe cell was actually a joint venture between Sony/Toshiba/IBM)
The difference being that chances are, their different divisions within the company. That operate on different schedules, etc.
But here's the thing, if HDDVD is a sinking ship...why would they funnel money from their manufacturing arm to keep their entertainment (or whatever arm it is making the HDDVDs) afloat if its not making them money?
THats just bad business and investors aren't interested in "Bad" business.
@HD4ME that's a rather bizarre argument. The simple fact is that the Japanese CE industry is incestuous. Companies like Sony & Toshiba always hedge just in case their plan A screws up. Most of the components in a Blu Ray / HD DVD drive are so similar that they're reusable or adaptable. Hence behind the scenes there are all sorts of deals, ventures, partnerships supplying both formats. Probably half the parts in any device such as semiconductors come from some other company.
Toshiba might be pro HD DVD on the surface but plan B is to make Cell processors for Sony. Toshiba even makes blu ray drives via a joint venture with Samsung. The theory behind this of course is if one format tanks, they can still have a smaller piece of the pie from the eventual winner.
And HD DVD has tanked. It tanked in Japan, it tanked in Europe and now its tanked in America. HD DVD is beaten. Toshiba will say as much shortly. What will happen then is up to Toshiba but probably they'll lick their wounds and then rebound with a hybrid player. I'm sure they'll make a killing making Blu Ray components and OEM drives though those patent revenues will mostly go to others this time around.
@xym
"HD4ME that's a rather bizarre argument"......
.....ummmm, it's not any sort of argument it's called an observation, I know that's a big word for you, so I'll say it a bit slower o b s e r v a t i o n.
HD4ME, no, you made an argument. You claimed profits from Cell processor are channelled into HD DVD and therefore counter PS3 sales. Which means by extension that Cell sales counter Cell sales since they go into the PS3. It's a clueless and circular argument. It also demonstrates that you are quite ignorant of how things work in large companies. One division or subsidiary simply doesn't hand over its profits to another. In fact one division's profits might be to the detriment of another's. As is exactly the case here.
@Xym
Hey doofus, read my post, it is not an argument. Are your eyes painted on?
I said "they CAN channel those profits to the HD DVD division and help keep HD DVD going to counter the PS3 !!
I did not say they do, I did not say they are, I said they can.
That does not mean they are or they will, best you clean your glasses or learn grammar, that is an .......
O B S E R V A T I O N
Toshiba wants to clear its current stock before doing anything official and then I think the final dominos will fall very rapidly. The end of this month is a cutoff since that's when the 5 free disk promo ends. They might extend the offer but I certainly doubt they'll replace it with a new one.
I expect the studios would rather Toshiba manned up and said game over. They probably don't want to look like they're kicking a cripple and besides, they're bound to have relationships with Toshiba they don't want to damage.
Toshiba has a close relation ship with Samsung and already produces blu ray players through a joint venture. So it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a rebranded Samsung hybrid coming from Toshiba this year with a "proper" Toshiba model later.
@ Nfinity
@ Truth Teller
god i fucking hatea you both so bad
when the format war's over will we keep on reading this kind of things back and forth from you both???
Yeah companies need to be fair and give consumers a choice. Thats why they need to keep beta-max, vhs, laserdisks, dvds, hd dvds and blu-ray disks of the same film. because since sony is evil, whoever doesnt feel like supporting blu ray or dvd and whoever doesnt wanat to get into the new market of blu ray can always go back to the cheaper vhs because theres plenty of those to go around and since consumers dont care about features and any of that quality crap, then it wont matter at all. right guys?
So now that all three dozen nails are in the coffin, does this assure us that HD DVD won't come back from the dead as a zombie?
Who knows if the HR story is true?
Doesn't matter, they are a pretty powerful source and I expect that Toshiba will be forced to respond.
If they come back with some weak namby pamby retort like "The HR misinterpreted..." then we know there is a lot of truth in it.
Should they just ignore it, it is likely gospel.
If they come back with the weak assed "HD-DVD is the best choice for consumers" then they are saying goodbye to their loved one and lining up for the Koolaid.
Only a vigorous "Toshiba strongly refutes... will indicate that they are huddling in the bunker with their 2 pathetic studios trying to figure out an orderly surrender.
Toshiba really needs to fire their PR people. No competent talking head should EVER use the phrase "at least" in a press conference designed to pad their company's image. A statement like "at least we still have some shelf space at Best Buy" makes them look like abused puppies whimpering for love and affection.
You are correct that a lot of this is not about sales but about the war of words and how you fight it. Its political (as is all business). That said, stockholders will only put up with so much of a loss. If Toshiba is heavily subsidizing players right now there is only so long before stockholders demand they cut their losses and move on.
All Your HD DVD are Belong to Us
-Blu-ray
Toshiba should have made a duel format player long ago and discounted the price the same way they are with the HD DVD players. If there was a great duel format player for $400, everyone would be all over it.
@Nfinity:
Dark Knight is coming to BR. As is the entire Batman collection.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/list/3
The sad thing about Nfinity is that he (or she) really believe they're making a difference by posting such garbage! The question now is how will he fill his time when HDDVD is dead and forgotten? All his anti Sony feelings will have to spill out somehow..
Blu Ray is going from strength to strength and HDDVD is doing the exact opposite, doesn't take a genius to work out where this so called war is heading.. and sooner than some people would like.
Comparing the HD format war to the games console war is just plain ridiculous. The consoles all offer different features, different game franchises and different ways of playing whereas movies are straightforward, a HD player will play movies and that's it.. one format with all content available is all that's needed. We don't need/want 2 HD disc formats, DVD has been a huge success and prices for hardware and software have come down considerably without a competing format on the market.
There's a reason why Spielberg hasn't allowed his big movies to be released on HDDVD, he knows the format is finished. Obviously Nfinity believes he knows more than big steve.
I would expect Toshiba to start doing combo players, I dont know if they will drop HDDVD completely, this way they stay in the good books of many people who bought an HDDVD player and their movies.
No Blu ray player for me until sub $200 price and spec equal my A35.
So HD4Me, by your same logic, Toshiba is making the Cell at cheaper price for Sony (which permitted the price of the PS3 40Gb, and the reduction of costs for Sony), which by extension let the BDA destroy HD DVD in sales thanks to all those shiney PS3s and the disc sold?
I know that given your psychosis it's hard to think straight, but the fact is, that divisions from those giant companies do what is best for them, and it sometime leads to unnatural alliances.
Like Toshiba and Sony.
There are countless exemples in the display world (among others) where big competitors join to reduce costs. Nothing new here buddy.
The real truth here (for those in the know) is that Sony are really pi$$ed off.
They had hoped to arrange what would have been billed as a 'St Valentines day massacre' for HD DVD & to have gotten Universal & Paramount to jump to at least purple if not Blu yesterday.
They failed, again
(where are those claims of 'out of contract' & 'get out clauses' now, eh? If all was so rosey in the Blu garden how come months are going by and not a an inch of mevement of any kind from Universal 7 Paramount, eh?).
This kind of press release was merely meant to continue to work of undermining HD DVD in the media generally & gee up their 'troops'.
(like those foolish PS3 fanboy kiddies need any encouragement)
But once again it never quite happens for Blu.
The tide rolled in and has rolled out again and still HD DVD stands.
...... and still the Blu-ray fanboys are left making idiot comments about sometime, maybe, perhaps, soon.....but never quite 'now'
TruthTeller aka Dave :"The real truth here [etc]"
Dave, you're getting tiresome again.
Folks are catching on you're just flame
baiting.
I'm sorry you get picked on in the school
yard, but this isn't the place to work it
out.
Now off with you son. Go watch an HD movie.
WOW... so BR failed because Universal & Paramount didn't jump ship right on Valentines Day? WTF? That doesn't make any kind of sense. With rumors of Wal-Mart and Toshiba themselves jumping ship, both of which I'm betting will end up being true, Universal and Paramount will no longer even have to jump ship because the ship will be completely sunk.
@Nfinity:
Dark Knight on HD DVD? You're talking as if it's been announced or something...
You accuse Blu-ray supporters of spreading false hope, thinking Uni and Paramount will go Blu...
YET you talk about crap like Gladiator and Dark Knight coming to HD DVD when it's been anything but announced.
You're such a hypocrite.
Hey, I don't know how to e-mail in an article. But if someone knows how - this is interesting. I heard this rumor on Fox Business, earlier in the week. I didn't beleive it because there was no other info about it. You decide -
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html
I cannot wait to see if you we here from these guys after Toshiba makes the announcement...this coming from a guy who right now owns and HD A3 and considers it the worst purchase he has ever made in his life.
@ Truth Teller & nfinity...this ones just for you:
Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heart
Things have gone from bad to worse for HD DVD in the space of one week.
Wal-Mart announced Friday morning that it, too, has chosen a side in the battle for high-definition video supremacy: by June it will only stock Blu-ray Disc players.
A buyer in Wal-Mart's video division wrote this morning on her Wal-Mart Checkout blog that the retail giant had made the decision following Netflix and Best Buy's high-profile announcements that they will exclusively stock Blu-ray products.
Wrote Susan Chronister of Wal-Mart: "By June Wal-Mart will only be carrying Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, and of course standard-def movies, DVD players, and up-convert players."
"So," she continues, not mincing words, "if you bought the HD (DVD) player like me, I'd retire it to the bedroom, kid's playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard-def movies, and make space for a BD player..."
That might be the best option at this point, as the dominoes keep falling in Blu-ray's favor. While Netflix and Best Buy were pretty damning evidence that the end was near, now it's glaringly obvious: it's over for HD DVD. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that consumers will automatically start buying Blu-ray players. As mentioned many times before here, prices will have to continue to fall on both Blu-ray players and packaged media for there to be any sort of mainstream adoption of the format.
There are rumors that Toshiba might soon be declaring defeat: The Hollywood Reporter has sources telling it that Toshiba, the main backer of the HD DVD, might drop its allegiance with the format in the next few weeks.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9873029-1.html?tag=blg.orig
OOUUCCHH!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG. This is worse than McDonald's dropping the BigMac from their menu!!!
LOLOLOLOL
But really, Toshiba has NEVER been a good electronics company. Their quality/motto is to supply the bargain bin chain of stores which means literally JUNK. HD-DVD was a complete failure from the beginning. It's too bad consumers got sucked into the format war and the weak and incompetent people that are HD-DVD shrills succombed to becoming brainwashed with HD-DVD lies. Oh well, there is still time for them to recover now that Blu-ray is now in their face.
How do I hack my XBOX360 HD-DVD drive...and replace it with a BR DVD drive???
Crap!
I just got an email from Netflix saying they have chosen Blu Ray over HD DVD and will let their inventory of HD DVD completely dissolve by May. By the way, their HD collection sucks anyway and the disks they can supply are so beat up most won't play through. While I appreciate their effort to more or less "end the war" by taking a stand, I think their decision is premature, and am disappointed they made it so soon. Especially since I just bought a Toshiba A3 a while back at top price. I can't win, but I know one thing. I'm going to wait a good long time before making a Blu Ray machine purchase.
Frankly, I have never understood why Blockbuster or Netflix didn't simply GIVE me a player. Wouldn't that make perfect sense if you were in the movie rental business, and considering they cost almost nothing to make? What was $500 not very long ago is now $200, and what was $300 is now $60. GIVE me a BD player if you want me to rent a dozen movies a month.