Tuesday, February 19th 2008

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

TOKYO--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.
Source: Toshiba Japan
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38 Comments on Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

#26
ktr
One question that I have...Will Toshiba have some sort of HD-DVD buy back?
Posted on Reply
#27
Ravenas
ktrOne question that I have...Will Toshiba have some sort of HD-DVD buy back?
I think they, or the retailers, should be required to...
Posted on Reply
#28
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
RavenasI think they, or the retailers, should be required to...
i dont think they should be required to because that would mean a HUGE risk for companies developing new technology. toshiba already took a big risk developing HD-DVD and going head to head with Sony, and they may have been less likely too do that if they risked having to buy back all the players and discs that were sold. not mention it wouldnt be just them, but all the other companies involved and even the movie studios that had contracts. that could be a legal mess. if anything it discourages companies from developing risky new/superior formats and at the same time bolster the already full established companies from assuming risk by them aquiring the products from the smaller companies. so to make this short, that would facilitate the creation of monopolies.
Posted on Reply
#29
Wile E
Power User
ktrNow that this format war is over, a new one begins...BLU-RAY VS. DIGITAL DOWNLOADS....FIGHT!!!
I don't see it. Yeah, digital downloads are gaining in popularity, but they're never gonna compete on the same level as BR. My prediction is, by the time downloads are mainstream, BR will already be a thing of the past, or at least on it's way out the door for the next format. Most consumers still want a physical copy when they buy something. It gives them a better sense of security. I know I fall into that category.

Now, what I would like to see is movies on flash media.
Posted on Reply
#30
ktr
I say sony should buy back the older HD-DVD and give rebates for new blu-ray hardware.
Posted on Reply
#31
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
ktrI say sony should buy back the older HD-DVD and give rebates for new blu-ray hardware.
so you are saying that if you bought hd-dvds and an hd-dvd player, then sony should buy back that stuff and in return give you a rebate for blu-ray stuff? why would sony want to eat the cost of hd-dvds loss?
Posted on Reply
#32
HookeyStreet
Eat, sleep, game!
R.I.P HD-DVD.......long live x264 :rockout:
Posted on Reply
#33
Snake05
I'm tempted to purchase a Toshiba A3 for $100 for the free movies and the upconversion alone. I remember selling a bunch of regular upconverting players this summer for $100, and in my opinion, the processors in the HD players do a better job.
Posted on Reply
#34
ktr
Easy Rhinoso you are saying that if you bought hd-dvds and an hd-dvd player, then sony should buy back that stuff and in return give you a rebate for blu-ray stuff? why would sony want to eat the cost of hd-dvds loss?
Its gonna be a small rebate. But all in all, sony will get a new Blu-ray customer. Also, I bet blu-ray devices theses days have quite a bit of markup, so knocking $50-100 bucks still will be positive profits.
Posted on Reply
#35
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
ktrIts gonna be a small rebate. But all in all, sony will get a new Blu-ray customer. Also, I bet blu-ray devices theses days have quite a bit of markup, so knocking $50-100 bucks still will be positive profits.
if you are saying they should do it because it is good for business i have to disagree. i dont know sony's business model but i do know that 'to the winner goes the spoils.' giving people who bought hd-dvd stuff a rebate would probably hurt sony's bottom line. also, sony is going to get new blu-ray customers eventually since there is no other format choice.
Posted on Reply
#37
effmaster
RavenasSony stocks are soaring, 5% increase already!

uk.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUKN1925691620080219?feedType=RSS&feedName=technology-media-telco-SP
It will fall again once Metal Gear Solid gets delayed yet again.:laugh::laugh:
I was just kidding Ravenas.

And Wareagle that was a cheap shot.:slap: I thought we were freinds and close neighbors?

but I do agree with you about how the two companies should have worked out their differences. Toshiba actually made a statement in early 2006 saying that they really did not want to have a format war with Sony and that they were still willing to come to the table to talk with Sony and Panasonic about it. But then an announcement was made shortly later by Panasonic saying "Bring it on Toshiba" I personally think that Panasonic was behind this and not Sony or Toshiba with the Format war.
Posted on Reply
#38
Ravenas
effmasterIt will fall again once Metal Gear Solid gets delayed yet again.:laugh::laugh:
I was just kidding Ravenas.

And Wareagle that was a cheap shot.:slap: I thought we were freinds and close neighbors?

but I do agree with you about how the two companies should have worked out their differences. Toshiba actually made a statement in early 2006 saying that they really did not want to have a format war with Sony and that they were still willing to come to the table to talk with Sony and Panasonic about it. But then an announcement was made shortly later by Panasonic saying "Bring it on Toshiba" I personally think that Panasonic was behind this and not Sony or Toshiba with the Format war.
Lol!! Knowing game developers, it will probably happen and it will just piss me off! :laugh::laugh:
Posted on Reply
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