Posted by rander3127 on 04/05/06 07:03

Samsung postpones debut of Blu-ray, giving Toshiba edge
FORMAT BATTLE: The Korean electronics giant delayed its introduction of
DVDs using Blu-ray, giving Sony a setback in its fight with Toshiba

BLOOMBERG
Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006,Page 11

Samsung Electronics Co, the first company scheduled to sell
high-definition DVD players based on Sony Corp's technology, delayed
the introduction of its Blu-ray machine, widening Toshiba Corp's head
start in home entertainment's biggest format war in two decades.

Samsung postponed the debut of the player in the US by a month until
June, said Ken Noh, a spokesman for the South Korea-based company,
confirming a Reuters report. Noh said he couldn't immediately verify
other details of the report, which said the player's debut was delayed
until June 25 from May 23 because the product needs further testing.

The delay is the latest setback for Sony, which pushed back the
introduction of its PlayStation 3 game console because of Blu-ray, in
its bid to avoid losing the battle to set the standard format for home
entertainment, as it did with Betamax against Video Home System tapes
during the 1980s.

Toshiba, which is promoting the rival HD DVD format, began selling
players based on its technology last week in Japan and plans to
introduce it in the US this month. The company has the support of
Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, and Intel Corp, the
biggest chipmaker.

LG Electronics Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co are among companies that back
both Toshiba and Sony. Samsung supports Sony.
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