Toshiba is expected to post a $1 billion loss this year from its high-def division, thanks to the demise of the HD DVD format. But can the electronics company rebound by joining forces with Blu-ray?
Digital Journal — Toshiba wasn’t going to lose the next-gen DVD battle and leave unscathed. According to the Nikkei business daily, Toshiba will likely face a 100 billion yen ($986 million US) loss in its HD DVD business. The death of HD DVD is also expected to post a full-year profit of 250 billion yen ($2.5 billion US), falling short of its outlook.
Toshiba declined to confirm the accuracy of the report.
In February, Toshiba
announced it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, giving a victory to the rival Blu-ray disc technology primarily backed by Sony.
Until its withdrawal from the format war last month, Toshiba had signed deals with Microsoft, Universal Pictures, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation. On Amazon.com, all HD DVD products, including DVDs, were priced at least half their original price.
Toshiba expected a 50 billion yen loss this year due to next-generation DVDs, but Nikkei doubled that number because of higher production line charges.
What should Toshiba do next in the HD arena? If Toshiba wants to impact the market in the future, the electronics giant would consider joining forces with Blu-ray. They have to get over their ego blow and realize the HD standard is now Blu-ray. Adapt or die, right?
Toshiba needs to take what it already invested in HD technology and funnel it to a winning technology, past format wars be damned. Toshiba should realize Sony is no longer the enemy and instead see what they can get out of this growing market.
The company has said it has no plans to get into Blu-ray, but perhaps it's not looking long-term enough. Toshiba wants home-theater enthusiasts to knows its name when they shop for the latest tech. So does Toshiba want to be remembered as a high-def loser or a high-def player?
