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Posted by Total Annihiliation on 03/19/07 23:29
http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/high-definition/news/toshiba-rejects-blu-ray-victory-claim?articleid=943604279
Moves to dispel anti-HD DVD 'propaganda'
Rob Mead
19 Mar 2007 08:35
Toshiba has rejected claims made yesterday at a Blu-ray press
conference at CeBIT that its own HD DVD format is failing. Olivier Van
Wynendaele, Deputy General manager of HD DVD at Toshiba Ltd said the
claims were "propaganda" and then proceeded to dispute them point by
point in a call to tech.co.uk
Last Thursday Blu-ray Disc Association chairman Frank Simonis said
that Blu-ray discs were now out-selling HD DVDs by 3:1 in the US - a
claim Van Wynendaele disputes.
Van Wynendaele argues that the reason for the disparity is that new
owners of PlayStation 3 games console are simply redeeming free Blu-
ray movie vouchers given to them by Sony that they have to exchange at
retail stores - this is distorting genuine sales figures, according to
Van Wynendaele.
He counter-claimed by declaring that Toshiba had sold 200,00 HD DVD
players in the US, compared to just 30,000 true Blu-ray players. Van
Wynendaele said that the two million PS3 sales could not be counted
because there was no guarantee that people who were buying the
consoles were: a) choosing to buy movies with their own money; or b)
actually watching Blu-ray movies at all - the vast majority could be
using the PS3 to play games on, for example. The truth is, he said,
that neither format could claim victory when high def player sales
accounted for less than 1% of regular DVD player sales - in the US at
least.
You drop your prices, we'll drop them lower
Van Wynendaele also said that Toshiba's player pricing strategy would
still put its HD DVD format at an advantage when compared to Blu-ray.
He said Sony's decision to offer a lower-priced player later in the
year would be undercut by Toshiba.
He also said the company's own research had confirmed that even at
£450, many people still believe HD format players to be too expensive
when compared to the bargain basement prices offered by supermarkets
on DVD players. Toshiba launched a £449 1080p HD DVD player - the HD-
EP10 - last week. Blu-ray players currently sell for around £1,000.
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