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Forums - General Discussion - Toshiba doesn't think this format war will end, and they are fine with that

makingmusic476 on 21 November 2007

Think this war will ever end? Not according to Toshiba. Apparently, Toshiba knows they can't full out win the war, and they're just trying keep enough marketshare to receive at least something in royalties from disc sales.

From Pocket-Lint.Uk:

"The HD DVD Blu-ray battle is like petrol versus diesel at the pumps", Mike Eves, retail marketing executive, consumer products division for Toshiba told Pocket-lint. "Both will probably exist together rather than a single format wining out."

The news comes just days after Sony CEO Howard Stringer complained of a stalemate between the two formats.

"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides", Stringer said, referring to the big news from this summer when Paramount and DreamWorks went HD DVD-only.

However Toshiba's Eves wouldn't be drawn into whether or not a dual player from the likes of Samsung and LG are a good thing. But that didn't stop one spokesman from Toshiba agreeing that he wouldn't want two boxes under his TV.

Instead he implied that consumers have got used to getting exclusives from games companies for their consoles, so why not for movies?

Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer made a somewhat similar comment the other day, saying:

But in the end, it's counterproductive. We have a sort of stalemate at the moment. As you know, they had fewer studios, but then they paid a lot of money for Paramount. So we have four studios and they have two or three studios. It's a difficult... it's a difficult fight.

Warner has also made similar comments:

"When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide — so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.”

It appears that both Warner and Sony recognize the fact that this war is starting to stalemate, yet neither wants a dual-format world. As Warner said above, they are in a position to decide this war, so they will probably go exclusive one way or another before long. I personally believe that going Blu exclusive would be the only way to end anything. If they went HD exclusive, the studio support would be even more even, with it being 4 studios vs 3 (Sony, Disney, Fox, and Lionsgate vs Universal, Paramount, and Warner), and this war would only drag oneven further.

If Warner went with Toshiba, it would only ensure the dual format world that Toshiba currently envisions, and they'd inevitably want to produce two versions of each movie anyway. However, if they Went Blu exclusive, Blu-Ray would have 5 major studios exclusively supporting the format, and it would ensure victory, leading to a one format world.

I don't want multiple formats. I hope Warner goes Blu exclusive in early '08 so all of this could end.



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Dolla Dolla on 21 November 2007

Blu-ray VS HD-DVD








Consumer in the middle



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eugene on 21 November 2007

It wont end. Dvd is too popular. People dont "feel" the need to upgrade.



Yojimbo on 21 November 2007

Please end the format war!



 
FishyJoe on 21 November 2007

I'm perfectly happy with the war. I don't want $300 players and $30 movies. Give me cheap players and free movies. Competition is good.



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Yojimbo on 21 November 2007

VHS > All



 
Vengi on 21 November 2007

Once either BluRay or HD-DVD movies are cheaper then DVD that is when the war will really begin.



"..just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake"

FishyJoe on 21 November 2007
Vengi said:
Once either BluRay or HD-DVD movies are cheaper then DVD that is when the war will really begin.

 Which would never happen without the war.



makingmusic476 on 21 November 2007
FishyJoe said:
Vengi said:
Once either BluRay or HD-DVD movies are cheaper then DVD that is when the war will really begin.

Which would never happen without the war.


 DVDs msrp'ed for $40 and were sold for $30 at first. Many can now be found for just $5.  Prices would drop eventually without a war, to help spur software sales and to outell competing CEs.



makingmusic476 on 21 November 2007

This is the way I look at it. The BDA wants to win this war, as does Warner. If you're going to choose a format, go with Blu-Ray, because it's the only way one format will win.

If you go with HD DVD, you're just giving Toshiba more marketshare, and thus power, enabling them to stay in the game longer and create this dual format world they're looking for, thus forcing you two buy a second player later on, whether it's a Blu-Ray player to compliment your HD DVD player, or a dual-format player to replace it.