Toshiba readying a BD player?

[JoeSp]

RUMOR ALERT! Is Toshiba getting a BluRay player ready for sell this sumer?

1080living.com has learned through sources in the distribution and retail business that the buzz is Toshiba already has a Blu-Ray player in the works ready for production for a September 08 release but now this has been pushed up to a July 08 release with recent events in the industry.

This from the following site:

1080living- Blu-Ray HD-DVD News Forums Hi Definition BluRay HDDVD

Now before you all go and try and skin me alive please notice I did say rumor alert at the very beginning!

 

[mike123abc]

It would be funny if Toshiba gets even by releasing a 2.0 player and cuts its price way down to make the rest of the CE companies suffer.

 

[IcEWoLF]

It be nice if Toshiba partners up with us.

 

[teamerickson]

It would be funny if Toshiba gets even by releasing a 2.0 player and cuts its price way down to make the rest of the CE companies suffer.

Yes! :haha:haha:haha

 

[Hall]

I stated this in another thread, but I'm (and this is probably the case for millions of consumers) not paying $200, $300, or $400 for a player. I question why BD prices have remained so high and it's either a) it's an accurate reflection of the "cost" to produce them b) it's price-gouging by Sony and it's consortium and/or c) the licensing cost charged to manufacturers is substantial. In either case, I suspect Toshiba can't undercut the others.

At this point, I wish Sony or Samsung or some top-tier vendor offered a BD player in the sub-$200 range. Given the way things have changed in the past few months in this "war", I think BD is the safer route to take....

 

[akodoreign]

read·ing

/?ri

d??/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ree-ding] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun
1.the action or practice of a person who reads.
2.Speech. the oral interpretation of written language.
3.the interpretation given in the performance of a dramatic part, musical composition, etc.: an interesting reading of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
4.the extent to which a person has read; literary knowledge: a man of wide reading.
5.matter read or for reading: a novel that makes good reading.
6.the form or version of a given passage in a particular text: the various readings of a line in Shakespeare.
7.an instance or occasion in which a text or other matter is read or performed, usually without elaborate preparation and often as a means of testing its merits: The playwright wants to have a reading of the play for prospective producers.
8.an interpretation given to anything: What is your reading of the situation?
9.the indication of a graduated instrument: The reading is 101.2°F. –adjective
10.pertaining to or used for reading: reading glasses.
11.given to reading: the reading public.



Must have a lot of text on it or something

 

[vurbano]

It would be funny if Toshiba gets even by releasing a 2.0 player and cuts its price way down to make the rest of the CE companies suffer.

I agree!!!!!!! :haha :haha :haha

 

[vurbano]

I stated this in another thread, but I'm (and this is probably the case for millions of consumers) not paying $200, $300, or $400 for a player. I question why BD prices have remained so high and it's either a) it's an accurate reflection of the "cost" to produce them b) it's price-gouging by Sony and it's consortium and/or c) the licensing cost charged to manufacturers is substantial. In either case, I suspect Toshiba can't undercut the others.

At this point, I wish Sony or Samsung or some top-tier vendor offered a BD player in the sub-$200 range. Given the way things have changed in the past few months in this "war", I think BD is the safer route to take....

I vote "b"

 

[franohern]

I stated this in another thread, but I'm (and this is probably the case for millions of consumers) not paying $200, $300, or $400 for a player. I question why BD prices have remained so high and it's either a) it's an accurate reflection of the "cost" to produce them b) it's price-gouging by Sony and it's consortium and/or c) the licensing cost charged to manufacturers is substantial. In either case, I suspect Toshiba can't undercut the others.

At this point, I wish Sony or Samsung or some top-tier vendor offered a BD player in the sub-$200 range. Given the way things have changed in the past few months in this "war", I think BD is the safer route to take....

Or it's D) the natural cost life-cycle of a consumer electronics product category. In the beginning manufacturing and development costs are high, prices are high. As demand pics up, manufacturing costs fall, as do prices, and margins remain fairly high as companies try to recoup some of their r&d costs and, yes, make a profit. As demand continues to increase ecomonies of scale continue to materialize, prices continue to fall. At some point margins of scale begin to flatten. Due to competition for market share prices continue to fall, margins begin to shrink. At some point the product becomes commoditized, where margins are low and demand is somewhat stable.

We are somewhere in the second phase, where manufacturers hope to keep margins high while prices fall at a predictable rate that allows more consumers to buy into the product. This is not a time for joe sixpack. Maybe more of a "charley chardonnay" time.

Toshiba tried to bypass this life cycle once they realized that BD was trending away from them in the marketplace. This scared off any other CE manufacturers from joining on the HD-DVD side, and, as we can now see, did not lead to a very favorable outcome for them.

 

[Zookster]

Or it's D) the natural cost life-cycle of a consumer electronics product category. In the beginning manufacturing and development costs are high, prices are high. As demand pics up, manufacturing costs fall, as do prices, and margins remain fairly high as companies try to recoup some of their r&d costs and, yes, make a profit. As demand continues to increase ecomonies of scale continue to materialize, prices continue to fall. At some point margins of scale begin to flatten. Due to competition for market share prices continue to fall, margins begin to shrink. At some point the product becomes commoditized, where margins are low and demand is somewhat stable.

We are somewhere in the second phase, where manufacturers hope to keep margins high while prices fall at a predictable rate that allows more consumers to buy into the product. This is not a time for joe sixpack. Maybe more of a "charley chardonnay" time.

Toshiba tried to bypass this life cycle once they realized that BD was trending away from them in the marketplace. This scared off any other CE manufacturers from joining on the HD-DVD side, and, as we can now see, did not lead to a very favorable outcome for them.

Well said. I think Toshiba's last ditch firesale pricing, coupled with the rock-bottom pricing of standard DVD players over the past two years, has created unrealistic expectations regarding the rate that the price of BD players should fall.

 

[mike123abc]

The natural life cycle is that eventually the entire system gets reduced to a dedicated chip then the price can really fall. If you look at the A1 it was essentially a PC with an HD-DVD drive attached.

Once they have BD 2.0 all in one chip it will be cheap, but that could be a couple more years. The Panasonic 1.1 player was the first use of 45nm chip technology (they beat intel) so they could put 2 decoders on one chip. Technology keeps advancing and the chips get more and more transistors, eventually they will have it done.

 

[diogen]

Toshiba is the second biggest buyer (after Sony) of blue laser diodes.
If they decide to stop manufacturing HD DVD players, those (diodes) can be used to manufacture BD (or combo) players. The only differentiator would be BD licensing fees.

I believe Toshiba's next move will be determined by whether BDA wants to play it the easy way or the hard way.
The easy way would be to "buy" Toshiba's loyalty and get them in line with other CE manufacturers playing by the same rules, i.e. keeping healthy profit margins.
The hard way would be to try and drive Toshiba out of the hidef optical business completely.

I think the first is much more likely and Toshiba would have to be paid for this to happen.

Diogen.

 

[mike123abc]

I can see Sony wanting to get Toshiba on BD as fast as possible, including giving them the royal treatment. Sony has a studio and they will make plenty of money off the Toshiba players when the consumers buy Sony movies to play on them. The other players may not be so happy to have more competition, but Sony makes money on all of them.

 

[ONUOsFan]

read·ing

/?ri

d??/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ree-ding] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

Must have a lot of text on it or something

I was thinking the same thing...

I vote "b"

There's a shock.

 

[akodoreign]

I was thinking the same thing...



There's a shock.

I knew what he meant though. And I think it would be good for the industry if they did jump in :up

 

[haertig]

This would be fantastic for HD! You end up coupling all the reported advantages of BR (we'll accept that statement as fact for the sake of discussion), with Toshiba's ability to make the technology available inexpensively. Who would NOT want that?! Excepting those who want to keep prices high for their own enrichment.

I highly doubt that Toshiba would cut off their nose to spite their face by selling a new BR player at a loss just to put it to the BR consortium. They might be willing to accept less profit per player though. I'm all for that.

 

[ONUOsFan]

This would be fantastic for HD! You end up coupling all the reported advantages of BR (we'll accept that statement as fact for the sake of discussion), with Toshiba's ability to make the technology available inexpensively. Who would NOT want that?! Excepting those who want to keep prices high for their own enrichment.

I highly doubt that Toshiba would cut off their nose to spite their face by selling a new BR player at a loss just to put it to the BR consortium. They might be willing to accept less profit per player though. I'm all for that.

I knew what he meant though. And I think it would be good for the industry if they did jump in :up

I agree!

 

[JohnL]

Where are the HD-DVD Fans boys to spin this news into something that shows how Toshiba is doing this for all the current HD-DVD owners out there.

If this rumor is true then Toshiba's HD-DVD format is finished. Although this is proof that Toshiba themselves acknowledges their formats LOSS.

John

 

[gadgtfreek]

1) I take no issue with the cost of BD players, I have no problem with Panasonic making a decent profit off the BD30 which I own and bought for $499.

2) Regardless of time, anyone who thinks Toshiba wont make a BD player eventually is a moron.

 

[Peter Parker]

Eventually perhaps---heck Sony made VHS players. But the question is ----will it happen that soon?