Toshiba at CES:HD DVD standalones hit 1 million mark

[elfman]

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...technologyNews

Toshiba sought to stress instead the potential of its recent alliance with Sharp Corp (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research) on TV panels.

[Moonraker]

Not 1 million yet.

The official press release says this:

...with nearly one million dedicated players in the market in North America...

[elfman]

...said on Sunday sales of HD DVD players in North America, including other brands' HD DVD drive sales, totalled 1 million units last year, driven by demand for Internet-delivered content.

This report seems to say 1 million already. Do you have a link to the actual press release or something different?

[Moonraker]

Yes, here is the link to the real press release where i copied that quote from:

http://www.reuters.com/article/press...08+PRN20080107

[elfman]

Ok, cook thanks. Just wanted to make sure I'm not posting FUD!

[sub780lime]

Not too exciting numbers when Bluray is claiming 3.5 million players sold (but $3 million of those are PS3). Only 500K are stand-alone BD players.

[DakotaDave]

Then in all actuallity HD is kicking BR butt! The sales of PS3 shouldn't count since it is a TOY!

[chlngr1970]

I have no problem counting PS3s in the Blu Ray player count. It just shows how much more of a disparity in the SW sales between the two.

Anyway...

It's not like it's going to change anything right now

j

[RaceTripper]

Originally Posted by DakotaDave

Then in all actuallity HD is kicking BR butt! The sales of PS3 shouldn't count since it is a TOY!

I bought a 40GB PS3 specifically as a BD player. The fact it plays games is a bonus, but it's main purpose is for BD. I am thinking about getting a second BD player and am leaning towards another PS3.

Maybe a better measure is software sales. Isn't that also in BD's favor by a factor of 2:1 or so?

[elfman]

Originally Posted by RaceTripper

Maybe a better measure is software sales. Isn't that also in BD's favor by a factor of 2:1 or so?

Yeah but I think the point was that, if BD has a 4:1 advantage in players but only a 2:1 advantage in software, that means that HDDVD users are more likely to buy movies at at 2:1 rate over BD owners.

You would think that that would mean something to the people who MAKE the software (warner, etc) but apparently not.

[chlngr1970]

Well, when they don't have to pay replication costs, because they are being subsidized by Sony, the only cost to the studio that issues Blu Ray titles is the authoring. My guess is, along with the truck loads of cash Sony paid Warner Brothers, and the fact they don't have to pay replication costs, it is probably better on their bottom line. My only question is what happens when Sony stops subsidizing replication?

j

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Well, when they don't have to pay replication costs, because they are being subsidized by Sony, the only cost to the studio that issues Blu Ray titles is the authoring. My guess is, along with the truck loads of cash Sony paid Warner Brothers, and the fact they don't have to pay replication costs, it is probably better on their bottom line. My only question is what happens when Sony stops subsidizing replication?

j

I believe that is why Warner supported HD DVD so long. They probably wanted it to win in the end, but other studios did not appear to have the same view. Now that they've made their choice, it is their problem what the outcomes of that choice are. This is not a decision WB can "unmake."

[biglyle]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

My only question is what happens when Sony stops subsidizing replication?

j

Then Warner begins footing the bill, simple as that. By that time BR will be standard and the word HDDVD will be used about as often as the word Betamax.
Warner is a big company and I am pretty sure that they have thought every scenario through .

[Moonraker]

Heres the graph of stand alones that Toshiba showed at CES. Seems they lost a bit of ground in the last few months. This does not include PS3

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by Ruined

I believe that is why Warner supported HD DVD so long. They probably wanted it to win in the end, but other studios did not appear to have the same view. Now that they've made their choice, it is their problem what the outcomes of that choice are. This is not a decision WB can "unmake."

If that were really true they should have gone exclusive and that would have really made things interesting.

[biglyle]

[quote=Moonraker;865631]Heres the graph of stand alones that Toshiba showed at CES. Seems they lost a bit of ground in the last few months. This does not include PS3

No PS3 numbers, then its irrelevant imo. Pretending the PS3 isnt a blu ray player doesnt help Toshiba's credibility in my books.

[DakotaDave]

[quote=biglyle;865717]

Originally Posted by Moonraker

Heres the graph of stand alones that Toshiba showed at CES. Seems they lost a bit of ground in the last few months. This does not include PS3

No PS3 numbers, then its irrelevant imo. Pretending the PS3 isnt a blu ray player doesnt help Toshiba's credibility in my books.

It isnt! ITS A GAME SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES A BLU-RAY PLAYER!!! ITS A TOY; THATS WHY!!!

[biglyle]

[quote=DakotaDave;865721]

Originally Posted by biglyle

It isnt! ITS A GAME SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES A BLU-RAY PLAYER!!! ITS A TOY; THATS WHY!!!

What ever you say. I personally know 6 people with PS3's, only one has ever played a video game on it. Mine has not, and in the foreseeable future will not see a game either. My case might not be the norm in terms of actual ratio, but, I would easily guess that about 40% of PS3 are bought for the sole purpose of watching blu-ray discs. Hell the 40gig I bought came with a movie and not a game LOL. The PS3 numbers matter, Toshiba knows it, thats why they never include them.

[RaceTripper]

Originally Posted by biglyle

What ever you say. I personally know 6 people with PS3's, only one has ever played a video game on it. Mine has not, and in the foreseeable future will not see a game either. My case might not be the norm in terms of actual ratio, but, I would easily guess that about 40% of PS3 are bought for the sole purpose of watching blu-ray discs. Hell the 40gig I bought came with a movie and not a game LOL. The PS3 numbers matter, Toshiba knows it, thats why they never include them.

I made that very point earlier. Poor DakotaDave. He's just in denial.


The chart without PS3 numbers is meaningless. The 40GB PS3 at $399 makes it a competitive and compelling choice as a dedicated BD player. And that you can get it for $299 this month makes it even better.

[DakotaDave]

Seems you are the one in denial. You are thinking of PERSONAL USE only and not thinking realistically!They dont care about personal use. Who cares how Joe Blow uses it. It is categorically a TOY, sold in TOY stores, and is a TOY first, a PLAYER second. If it helps; look at how its advertised...You never see it advertised as a Blu-Ray player; its always advertised as a game console.

[Hollow Man]

Before I go further, I'd like to point out that for reasons that aren't necessarily good ones, I was hoping for an HD DVD "win". Personally I don't think Sony's products have been as good as they were in the 80s, and I don't think they've done a good job getting Blu-ray stable before release.

That being said, you've gotta give them a hand for using the PS3 in their numbers and spin-doctoring. It's irrelevant that it's a "toy", sold in Toys R Us, and that most people who own one don't watch movies on it. The fact is that it IS a Blu-ray player, and from everything I've read, it's a damn good Blu-ray player! Originally I was of the mindset that it can't be as good as a standalone player, but alas, it appears it is. Sure it has some drawbacks, but everything I read says it has excellent picture and sound, and even does a good job at normal DVD upconversion. And it was even updated to Profile 1.1 in December!

So one can say all they want about how the PS3 is a game console, but the fact remains that if you look at its performance, it's a darn good Blu-ray player. For that reason, people should consider it when deciding which Blu-ray player to buy.

-HM

[RaceTripper]

Originally Posted by DakotaDave

Seems you are the one in denial. You are thinking of PERSONAL USE only and not thinking realistically!They dont care about personal use. Who cares how Joe Blow uses it. It is categorically a TOY, sold in TOY stores, and is a TOY first, a PLAYER second. If it helps; look at how its advertised...You never see it advertised as a Blu-Ray player; its always advertised as a game console.

I don't deny it's a toy. On that point I agree. I even bought two games to try on it. It's also a legitimate BD player. If it weren't I would have bought the Samsung BDP1400, since that was the other player I looked at.

Toshiba not including the PS3 in the numbers is bogus. Sony including all the PS3s in the total numbers is also bogus. There is probably no way to tell how many PS3 customer are like me, where it was purchased specifically as a player and not as a game console. That's why I think the software sales is a better indicator of consumer trends for format acceptance.

[biglyle]

Originally Posted by DakotaDave

look at how its advertised...You never see it advertised as a Blu-Ray player; its always advertised as a game console.

Really! So then why do the 40gig PS3's come with a movie and not a game? Seems to me its being promoted as a blu-ray player by Sony themselves.

[RaceTripper]

Originally Posted by biglyle

Really! So then why do the 40gig PS3's come with a movie and not a game? Seems to me its being promoted as a blu-ray player by Sony themselves.

Plus, it's called the "Movie Pack" and that's how it's imprinted on the box.

[dugpa]

Originally Posted by biglyle

Really! So then why do the 40gig PS3's come with a movie and not a game? Seems to me its being promoted as a blu-ray player by Sony themselves.

On the flip side, why do Disney's blu-ray discs have a sticker on them that says "plays on a blu-ray players and the playstation 3." If the playstation 3 was a real blu-ray player, shouldn't the sticker just say "plays on blu-ray players."

[RaceTripper]

Originally Posted by dugpa

On the flip side, why do Disney's blu-ray discs have a sticker on them that says "plays on a blu-ray players and the playstation 3." If the playstation 3 was a real blu-ray player, shouldn't the sticker just say "plays on blu-ray players."

That's because people don't realize the PS3 is not a toy. It's a BD player.

[dugpa]

Originally Posted by RaceTripper

That's because people don't realize the PS3 is not a toy. It's a BD player.

Sorry, anything with a slot loader in it can't be considered a legit piece of a home theater in my book. Slot loaders are for cars and five year olds who might break a real tray. In otherwords, the PS3 users.