http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/ Engadget Comments for Toshiba swallows a billion dollars on HD DVD http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/It's a witch I tell ya'! Burn em' ! Burn em'!]]>Mar 12th 2008 10:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 26th 2008 3:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Even BugMeNot won't work on this one.
http://www.bugmenot.com/view/www.nni.nikkei.co.jp

But format wars mostly mean lower prices for us!]]>Mar 13th 2008 12:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
engadget, you owe me ... ONE MILLION DOLLARS!]]>Mar 13th 2008 5:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Toshiba considered the best and worst case scenarios by launching a new format, and they accepted the risks associated with it.

Look at how many times a Sony backed format has failed, yet they still continue to create new ones. It can be very profitable!]]>Mar 12th 2008 10:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
- Betamax
- Minidisc
- UMD
- and whatever else I'm forgetting

Don't get me wrong. As a PS3 owner and Blu-Ray user, I couldn't be happier, but let's not forget the facts (and the history).]]>Mar 12th 2008 11:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
2. It is known, and confirmed by the studios, that Toshiba paid Paramount & DreamWorks Animation to back HD DVD.

But neither one is a huge deal, since this is a multi-*billion* dollar market any payoff would be a drop in the bucket.

And you commit the same error as many others by equating Blu-ray with Sony.]]>Mar 13th 2008 12:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Well, they have had some successes:

3.5" Floppy Disk
Compact Disc
and now Blu-ray (although, until it sees widespread adoption by consumers, I'd hold off on counting it as a true success. Remember, MiniDisc went up against DCC and won , ending up with mild success in Japan.)]]>Mar 13th 2008 8:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/

Warner also denied exclusivity rumors 3 weeks before they went exclusive.

Forgive me if I have trouble believing anything WB says.]]>Mar 13th 2008 9:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/May 28th 2008 10:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/

]]>Mar 12th 2008 10:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 12:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 9:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 2:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 10:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
The answer is a resounding NO !!!!]]>Mar 12th 2008 10:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 12th 2008 11:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 1:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 3:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 12:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 1:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Toshiba didn't work out so well.. I'm sure Microsoft told them to hang in there. ]]>Mar 13th 2008 1:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 1:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
HELL YES it was worth it. Anything that:

a) Attempts to offer a simple, cheap, interactive and high-quality high definition experience
b) Challenges the Sony end-to-end ownership of media, distribution, format etc
c) Costs Sony more money in 'bribes' to Warner Bros

is most certainly worth a measly billion dollars. ]]>Mar 13th 2008 5:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
1. It cost them $1 Billion in 2007.
2. They sold a grand total of 1 Million units over a 2 year period.
3. This means they spent nearly $1,000 per unit that they sold!

Do you still believe that HD DVD was that much cheaper than Blu-ray? As many reports last year suggested, Toshiba was losing money on every machine sold.]]>Mar 13th 2008 11:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
The key is, it was cheaper for the consumer, offered nearly the same potential as Blu-ray and had significantly reduced pressing plant costs, especially for converting DVD lines to HD DVD ones.

I'm sure Tosh did lose a lot of cash, but I'm sure they could have turned a profit a bit quicker had Warner gone red not blue. ]]>Mar 14th 2008 6:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 6:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Engineering players was genius. Finished spec, every bell and whistle, one time, done. They all worked properly as well.

Subsidizing players was genius. I bit at 100 bucks, and I still don't care. I'm buying up titles now. It's obviously going to be 2 years before we see blu ray in any kind of price parity to HDDVD.

Marketing was atrocious. 5 mail in movies that take 2 mos. Why? Just put 1 disc of planet earth in each box so that everyone has something to marvel at as soon as they open the player, and make them buy the rest. Take all that wasted money, and give some players away on radio in every market. Everyone hears that, it's cheap, and you'll gain install base. They lost it on marketing and nothing else.]]>Mar 13th 2008 10:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
A reasonable priced HD-DVD-R would have totally turned this around.]]>Mar 13th 2008 10:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Not quite right on the CD. The CD was Philips/Sony. Philips had optical media (video/audio) before the CD (laserdisc) on which research started in 1975 and which went to market in 1978. This was 5 years before Philips/Sony CD market intro in 1983.]]>Mar 13th 2008 11:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 13th 2008 12:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Now you have to wait a few years for this format player to go down.]]>Mar 13th 2008 2:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
Still Toshiba would have liked to spend the money and win but one billion for a chance at perhaps 20 billion over 10 years seemed to be an ok risk. They had the financial backing from other sectors to make up for it.]]>Mar 13th 2008 3:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/
I think generally they are happy to run these projects out of their profits and see if anything useful comes out of it. When times get tough, they can often just abandon these things (as Sony did with Aibo / QRIO a couple of years back when their profits declined). Other than making obscene profits for rich shareholders, there is not much point earning billions of profits in a given year - might as well spend that on research which will allow you to continue profitability into the future.]]>Mar 13th 2008 4:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/toshiba-swallows-a-billion-dollars-on-hd-dvd/Mar 14th 2008 2:16AM