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In Reply to: Toshiba cuts cost of their players 40-50% Fire sale, or posted by Duilawyer on January 15, 2008 at 16:37:50:
...Warner ripped the heart out with the Jan 4 announcement on the eve of CES. It was a well-timed announcement designed to do maximum damage to the HD DVD format. The impact was widely publicized, even in mainstream media, and caused Toshiba to cancel a 2 hour press conference.
The ripple effect has already started and it's only a matter of time (weeks? months?) before Universal and Paramount announce intentions to produce Blu-rays. It's only a matter of time before retailers drop HD DVD due to lack of sales because of public perception that HD DVD is dying. I can't see how Toshiba can recover from this unless they come up with an equally or maybe greater well-publicized countermove (hardware fire sales ain't it). Their only chance is to convince one or more of Sony, Fox, or Disney (all, staunch Blu-ray studios) to defect to HD DVD; chances of that are slim and none, and may represent a big reason why Warner decided to go with Blu-ray to eliminate the stalemate.
Note that Toshiba has shifted the HD DVD sales pitch suggesting their players make great DVD upconverters. They are simply planning a future without HD DVD and trying to mitigate the potential customer backlash when they finally realize HD DVD is no longer viable. They may also be posturing in the hopes of getting Sony and/or BDA to offer up concessions/royalties in exchange for giving up the fight. I expect Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks are also posturing in the hopes of winning concessions in exchange for going Blu-ray exclusive or least neutral.
I expect the retailers to stop stocking HD DVD products, maybe continue selling day/date releases of new title for a little while. I also expect the clearance sales to start when a sufficient time has passed to minimize the impact of the Christmas shopping season returns .
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Follow Ups
- It's Firesale masquerading as a countermove. HD DVD is dead... - oscar 19:02:46 01/15/08 (1)
- If Toshiba delivered superior technology, I'd say what it is doing is noble - Jazz Inmate 22:35:58 01/15/08 (0)
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