Toshiba Deploys New Marketing Initiatives Based On Strong Fourth Quarter Unit Sales

[TheMoose]

From information week

Toshiba Refuses To Wave The White Flag In HD DVD-Blu-Ray War

Toshiba, which recently suffered a major setback in its fight to dominate the high-definition movie format for DVDs, on Monday dropped the prices of its HD DVD players and said it would beef up its marketing campaign against the Sony-backed Blu-ray format.

At least one analyst, however, said Toshiba had little chance of winning, and its bravado was more likely an attempt to save face and create a better negotiating position against Blu-ray supporters who would like to see HD DVD go away as quickly as possible.

[TheMoose]

Home media magazine

A Plea for a Unified, Blu Future
Author: THOMAS K. ARNOLD
Posted: January 14, 2008

It’s time to knock it off. Ever since the two rival next-generation formats launched in 2006, I have been calling for an end to the format war, but without specifically telling one side or the other to get out.

I’m doing so now. With Warner Home Video dumping HD DVD, the format has the support of just two of the six major studios. It cannot win. At best, it can be a spoiler, but I’m hoping Toshiba, Universal and Paramount will take the high road and, for the good of the entire industry, bow out. Universal and Paramount, in particular, need to jump on the Blu-ray Disc bandwagon so we can go into the new year with a unified front and a unified mission: To educate consumers about the advantages of high-definition media and convince them the time to transition from standard DVD to Blu-ray is the day they bring that HDTV into their home.

Prolonging a format war that never should have happened in the first place makes no sense at this point. Study after study shows that consumer confusion is the No. 1 reason people aren’t rushing out to buy HD media hardware or software, and the format war is the reason everyone’s so confused — why risk buying something that six months down the road could be obsolete?

[1more4HDDVD]

THOMAS K. ARNOLD has done a very poor job of hiding his blu-ray bias for a long time now.

HD DVD is offering a $149 MSRP solution for people to get into high def while Blu-ray is offering a $399 MSRP solution. Who’s slowing the adoption of HDM again?

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by 1more4HDDVD

THOMAS K. ARNOLD has done a very poor job of hiding his blu-ray bias for a long time now.

HD DVD is offering a $149 MSRP solution for people to get into high def while Blu-ray is offering a $399 MSRP solution. Who’s slowing the adoption of HDM again?

Actually Samsung 1200 is $229 but the $399 solution is Profile 2.0 upgradable.
The $149 solution is for something that may have no support in 6 months.

[1more4HDDVD]

Originally Posted by TheMoose

Actually Samsung 1200 is $229 but the $399 solution is Profile 2.0 upgradable.
The $149 solution is for something that may have no support in 6 months.

The Samsung 1200 is $229 at MSRP? Do you have a link? Is this a discontinued model? I'm not comparing an A1 or A2 discontinued model and neither should you.

Also, the A3 is $149 MSRP, but is available for $129 through select online retailers.

The lowest price Blu-ray player at Best Buy is $399 (with 5 movies). The lowest price HD DVD player at Best Buy is $149 (with 7 free movies).

You are correct about the $149 solution possibly not having support in 6 months. Isn’t that a shame? Already nearly 1 million people have chosen HD DVD and now at $149, high-def is within many people’s price range and the studios are turning their back on this market.

[1more4HDDVD]

Anyway…

After the WB announcement, I went neutral and I have bought 5 Blu-rays and 2 HD DVDs in that time-frame. However, given Toshiba’s renewed commitment to the format, the fact that Universal & Paramount have not gone neutral yet and the rumors of possible additional studio support for HD DVD, I’ve decided to go back to HD DVD exclusive until the end of February. I’ll take a step back and see what happens.