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Toshiba CEO Speaks Out on HD DVD Decision

Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

In his first in-depth interview since announcing his company's plans to drop HD DVD support, Toshiba CEO Atsutoshi Nishida says HD DVD "didn't stand a chance" following Warner's decision to exclusively back Blu-ray.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Nishida said that without Warner's support, HD DVD would have just 20% to 30% of software market share, effectively sealing its fate in the high-def format war.

"One has to take calculated risks in business, but it's also important to switch gears immediately if you think your decision was wrong," explained Nishida. "We were doing this to win, and if we weren't going to win then we had to pull out, especially since consumers were already asking for a single standard."

Nishida went on to say that post-HD DVD, Toshiba would turn its focus to upconverting standard-def DVD players and PCs, with an eye to digital downloads.

"We've been developing technologies in [the video downloads] area already, but now that we don't have the HD DVD business, I want to put even more energy into that," explained the CEO.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Toshiba's Plan for Life After HD DVD [Wall Street Journal]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Toshiba Officially Drops HD DVD (Feb 19, 2008)
Warner Goes Blu-ray Exclusive (Jan 04, 2008)

Toshiba: "No Plans" to Back Blu-ray

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 11:55 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

It may have thrown in the towel with HD DVD, but don't expect Toshiba to begin manufacturing Blu-ray players anytime soon.

That's according to company president Atsutoshi Nishida, who spoke at a press conference in Tokyo Tuesday. "No plans at all, not at this moment," was Nishida's response when asked whether Toshiba planned to produce players using rival Blu-ray technology.

Not that the Blu-ray Disc Association wouldn't be happy to have Toshiba on their side.

"We have always said that Toshiba and Microsoft, and any other company, is more than welcome to join the Blu-ray Disc Association," BDA spokesperson Frank Simonis told TechRadar ahead of Toshiba's announcement.

Toshiba stressed in its press release that it will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders, promising to "continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry" through the DVD Forum.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo [Engadget]
Blu-ray: 'Toshiba and Microsoft should join us' [TechRadar.com]
Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses [Press Release]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Toshiba Officially Drops HD DVD (Feb 19, 2008)

Toshiba: "No Plans" to Back Blu-ray

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 11:55 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

It may have thrown in the towel with HD DVD, but don't expect Toshiba to begin manufacturing Blu-ray players anytime soon.

That's according to company president Atsutoshi Nishida, who spoke at a press conference in Tokyo Tuesday. "No plans at all, not at this moment," was Nishida's response when asked whether Toshiba planned to produce players using rival Blu-ray technology.

Not that the Blu-ray Disc Association wouldn't be happy to have Toshiba on their side.

"We have always said that Toshiba and Microsoft, and any other company, is more than welcome to join the Blu-ray Disc Association," BDA spokesperson Frank Simonis told TechRadar ahead of Toshiba's announcement.

Toshiba stressed in its press release that it will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders, promising to "continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry" through the DVD Forum.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo [Engadget]
Blu-ray: 'Toshiba and Microsoft should join us' [TechRadar.com]
Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses [Press Release]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Toshiba Officially Drops HD DVD (Feb 19, 2008)

Toshiba Officially Drops HD DVD

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 03:15 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

Following several days of rumors, Toshiba has confirmed that it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders, effectively ending the high-def format war.

In a just-issued press release, the company said that it reached the decision following "recent major changes in the market." Toshiba emphasized that it will continue to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

“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 said it will begin reducing shipments of HD DVD players and recorders immediately, with the aim of pulling all HD DVD players, recorders and disc drives from store shelves by March. The company went on to say that it would "continue to assess" the long-term viability of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives.

Asked at a Tokyo press conference whether his company had any plans to adopt Blu-ray, Nishida said Toshiba had no such plans at the moment.

HD DVD first hit stores in April of 2006, and enjoyed an early sales lead against rival format Blu-ray up until the release of Sony's Blu-ray enabled PlayStation 3 later that year.

Though Blu-ray software outsold HD DVD throughout 2007, a series of tactical moves from the HD DVD camp kept the format in the game up until early this January, when Warner Bros announced it would drop its HD DVD support and would release its titles on Blu-ray exclusively, beginning this June.

In the weeks that followed, HD DVD backers vowed to fight on, issuing a series of price drops and embarking on a new marketing campaign, but it wasn't enough to convince retailers to stick with the fledgling format. Faced with the prospect of diminishing prominence at such top US retailers as Best Buy and Wal-Mart, insiders say it was only a matter of time before Toshiba would pull the plug.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses [Press Release]
Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo [Engadget]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Warner Goes Blu-ray Exclusive (Jan 04, 2008)
Toshiba Slashes HD DVD Player Prices; Shifts Marketing Focus (Jan 14, 2008)
Wal-Mart to Go Blu-ray Exclusive (Feb 15, 2008)
Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray over HD DVD (Feb 11, 2008)
Netflix Goes Blu-ray Exclusive (Feb 11, 2008)

Press Release: Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 03:00 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

Below is the entire text of Toshiba's Tuesday morning press release:

For Immediate Release

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO (February 19, 2008) -- 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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Toshiba Schedules Press Conference, HD DVD Announcement Expected

Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:00 PM ET
Tags: Industry Trends, Toshiba (all tags)

Toshiba has scheduled a press conference for later today, at which it is widely expected to announce that it is officially ceasing support of the HD DVD format.

Japanese news site Nikkei.net broke the news that Toshiba has scheduled a press conference for 5pm Tokyo time Tuesday (that's 12 midnight PST), at which the company is expected to announce that it will immediately stop manufacturing all HD DVD hardware and that it will cease selling them at retail by the end of March.

The news comes on the heels of a rapid succession of high-profile setbacks for the format over the past last week. First, three major retailers -- Netflix, Best Buy and Wal-Mart -- each announced plans to endorse the rival Blu-ray format, followed by intense speculation that Toshiba was mulling over its exit strategy for the nearly two-year old next-gen format (a claim that the company later confirmed, though it stopped short of declaring whether any decision had been made).

Needless to say, we'll keep you posted on any news out of Toshiba's press conference tonight, as well as any other developments as they unfold.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Toshiba to Hold HD DVD Press Conference [Nikki.net]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Toshiba: Still Backing HD DVD -- For Now (Feb 18, 2008)

Microsoft Addresses HD DVD Reports

Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 08:41 PM ET
Tags: Microsoft, Toshiba (all tags)

Responding to reports that Toshiba will soon discontinue the HD DVD format, Microsoft says such a move would not hurt sales of Xbox 360.

The company went on to say that it would wait to hear from Toshiba before discussing its plans for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.

The full text of Microsoft's statement follows below:

"We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."

The unusual statement from Microsoft (a company reknowned for not addressing rumors or speculation) would seem to be yet another indication that Toshiba is on the verge of conceding defeat to the Sony-backed Blu-ray format.

Toshiba has reportedly scheduled a press conference for 5pm Tuesday in Japan (that's midnight tonight Pacific Time). Needless to say, we'll keep you up to date on any developments.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Microsoft Not Worried About HD DVD [Kotaku.com]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Toshiba: Still Backing HD DVD -- For Now (Feb 18, 2008)

Toshiba: Still Backing HD DVD -- For Now

Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 01:30 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

Toshiba is denying weekend press reports that it has decided to drop its HD DVD support, saying that the company is "currently assessing its business strategies," but that no final decisions have been made.

In an official statement issued this morning, Toshiba said, "The media [has] reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment."

Meanwhile, in a separate report Monday morning, the Associated Press quoted an unnamed Toshiba official as saying that a board meeting could be held as soon as Tuesday, where a decision is likely.

As we've previously reported, the HD DVD camp suffered a series of high-profile blows last week, as three top retailers -- Netflix, Best Buy and Wal-Mart -- each announced plans to endorse the rival Blu-ray format.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Sony's Blu-Ray DVD Format Could Prevail [Associated Press]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Reuters, NHK: Toshiba to Pull Plug on HD DVD (Feb 16, 2008)
Wal-Mart to Go Blu-ray Exclusive (Feb 15, 2008)
Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray over HD DVD (Feb 11, 2008)
Netflix Goes Blu-ray Exclusive (Feb 11, 2008)

Reuters, NHK: Toshiba to Pull Plug on HD DVD

Sat Feb 16, 2008 at 06:16 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

There are more indications this weekend that primary HD DVD backer Toshiba is close to conceding defeat to rival high-def format Blu-ray.

Though there was no official comment from Toshiba Saturday, an unnamed company rep told Reuters that an official announcement could come from the company as early as this coming week.

"We have entered the final stage of planning to make our exit from the next generation DVD business," the source told Reuters in a just-published story.

In a separate report filed earlier in the day, Japanese broadcaster NHK said that although Toshiba is expected to continue selling HD DVD players at stores for the time being, it will cease production of all HD DVD-compatible equipment and will close its HD DVD factories in Northern Japan.

Today's stories from Reuters and NHK follow a similar report late Thursday from the Hollywood Reporter. A Toshiba spokesperson denied the report at the time, reiterating the company's support of HD DVD, calling it "the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings."

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, end format war: source [Reuters]
NHK World News Japan [Official Site]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Report: Toshiba to Drop HD DVD (Feb 14, 2008)

Report: Toshiba to Drop HD DVD

Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 08:29 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba (all tags)

The Hollywood Reporter is citing "reliable industry sources" as saying that Toshiba is on the verge of officially dropping its HD DVD format.

Though Toshiba denies that any such decision has been made, the just-published article in The Reporter points to "substantial" losses from each HD DVD player sold and a series of high-profile defections as key motivators for the company, with one unnamed source close to the HD DVD camp telling the Reporter that "an announcement is coming soon... it could be a matter of weeks."

Asked to respond to the report, Toshiba VP Jodi Sally reiterated her company's support of the HD DVD format. "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings," said Sally.

The exec went on to address "the market developments in the past month," saying only that "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say [Hollywood Reporter]


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