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Toshiba HD-A35
Toshiba slashes prices on HD DVD players and launches campaign targeting SD DVD owners

Seemingly resolute in its cause, Toshiba announced today new pricing and marketing strategies for HD DVD.

Realizing that price is one of the biggest barriers in mass consumer adoption of a new technology, Toshiba has dropped its suggested retail pricing across the entire third-generation HD DVD player line. Effective starting January 13, the price of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99.

New, lower pricing on Toshiba HD DVD hardware appeared over the weekend when online retailers listed the HD-A3 as low as $129.99 and the HD-A30 at $179.98.

"While price is one of the consideration elements for the early adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer," said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President Digital A/V Group. "Consumer sales this holiday season have proven that the consumer awareness of the HD DVD format has been elevated and pricing is the most critical determinant in consumers' purchase decision of the next generation HD DVD technology. The value HD DVD provides to the consumer simply cannot be ignored."

Last year, special holiday sales of entry level HD DVD players had consumers taking home new hardware for under $100. Thanks to priced-to-move sales on HD DVD hardware, Toshiba moved 90,000 players during a weekend sales rush.

The second point to Toshiba’s two-pronged attacked is its new marketing campaign aimed to inform consumers on the DVD-upscaling capabilities of its HD DVD players. All of Toshiba’s HD DVD players will upscale a standard-definition DVD to high-definition resolutions.

"HD DVD is the best way to watch movies in high definition," said Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Toshiba's Digital A/V Group. "Our HD DVD players not only play back approximately 800 HD DVD titles available worldwide and deliver an entirely new level of entertainment but also enhance the picture quality to near high definition on legacy DVD titles by all studios. In short, we added high def to DVD which already is the de facto standard format created and approved by the DVD Forum that consists of more than two hundred companies."

While Toshiba overstates in its press release the improvement of upscaling DVDs to 1080 resolutions (especially when compared to true high-definition movies), those looking to extend the life if their existing standard-definition libraries should consider a high-definition player. Nearly all Blu-ray Disc players on the market, including the PlayStation 3, also feature similar upscaling technologies.

Toshiba said that its new advertising strategies will include television, print and online media channels, along with dealers and studio partners on joint marketing and promotional initiatives to promote HD DVD.

With Warner Bros. siding exclusively with Blu-ray Disc this summer, Toshiba appears to be exploring every angle to turn the tide in the still-ongoing high-definition format war.

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Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By m0mentary on 1/14/2008 9:03:55 PM , Rating: 2
as indicated, Blu-ray players also upscale DVDs, although any marketing from Toshiba would be an improvement as I've yet to see a SINGLE ad for HD-DVD.

Smash TV anyone?

"Good Luck...you'll need it!"




By masher2 (blog) on 1/14/2008 9:20:34 PM , Rating: 5
> "as indicated, Blu-ray players also upscale DVDs"

True, but when you shell out $400 for an HD player, you're definitely buying it for its HD capability. If you're paying $150 (or less, street price), you can position it as an upscaling DVD player that also happens to play HD discs.

It's a similar tactic to Sony's inclusion of BD in the PS3, which millions of people bought as a game console, and only secondarily as an HD player.

Will it work? Only time will tell.


RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By cochy on 1/14/2008 9:50:01 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Will it work? Only time will tell


No.

-Father Time


By Funksultan on 1/15/2008 8:56:42 AM , Rating: 2
Heheh, gods of DailyTech, if that's not a 6, I dunno what is.

Thanks cochy, that made my morning.


By therealnickdanger on 1/15/2008 9:57:02 AM , Rating: 1
Haha! Indeed.


By PandaBear on 1/15/2008 4:06:03 PM , Rating: 2
The main question is, does it play DivX and other pirate content? I know Philips does, but and Sony for sure not, what about Toshiba?


By EODetroit on 1/15/2008 5:43:05 PM , Rating: 2
Actually the PS3 was recently patched to play DivX / XVid. Just this past weekend I played some downloaded BSG episodes on one and it played without any problems, worked perfectly off a flash drive plugged into one of its USB connectors AND off a burned data DVD, both of which I brought to test with. One of the files would never play on my Philips DVD player because it was too high resolution, but the PS3 handled it no problem.

I'm no Sony lover (just check my comment history), but I'm not going to not praise them when they do something right.

They finally did something right.


By kkwst2 on 1/16/2008 7:55:44 AM , Rating: 2
For me, this is relatively inconsequential given that they can be used as media extenders even without native support. I have the 360, but I understand it works just as well with the PS3. I use Tversity to stream all my music/divx/pics to my tv via the 360. It works great. I only have one downloaded divx video that stutters, otherwise flawless. I'm assuming that it's because the transcoding can't keep up. I've been really happy with that piece of software.

So native support isn't really necessary, but does keep you from having to transcode.


By wonderhat7 on 1/17/2008 7:47:00 PM , Rating: 2
epic lulz

blu-ray is fudged too, though
digital distribution will be widespread enough by the time one of the two hard formats is officially a vicotr


RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By sxr7171 on 1/14/08, Rating: -1
By masher2 (blog) on 1/14/2008 11:09:24 PM , Rating: 5
> "the majority of those millions of PS3s in homes today were bought as the cheapest possible Blu-Ray player"

The majority? No, I don't believe so, given the attach rate on PS3s back in August was on the order of 0.3 (i.e. 3 PS3 owners to one disk sold). No one is going to buy a PS3 for the sole purpose of playing BD discs...then not buy any discs for it.


RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By lopri on 1/14/08, Rating: -1
RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By Spuke on 1/15/2008 1:04:05 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Maybe not the 'majority', but a 'significant portion' of PS3 buyers were/are intend to use it as a Blu-Ray player.
40% of PS3 owners don't know that there's even a Bluray player in the unit. 50% of the PS3 owners that DID know there was a Bluray player in the unit did not use it to watch movies. So you have a whopping 30% of all PS3 owners that know they have Bluray players AND use it to watch movies. HARDLY a majority at all.

Most people buy game consoles to play games. The numbers support this assertion.


RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By Marlowe on 1/15/08, Rating: -1
RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By jamdunc on 1/15/2008 3:39:55 AM , Rating: 5
40% did not know so that leaves 60% that did know.

50% of 60% = 30%

Simple really.


RE: Not sure this new marketing strategy will work
By JimFear on 1/15/2008 9:09:03 AM , Rating: 2
Aren't 90% of statistics made up anyway? :D

On a serious note though, where did you pull those figures from? You'd have to question EVERYONE who bought a PS3 to get realistic numbers and as trends change they'd only be valid for a set period of time. Looking at your percentages I can affirm you've asked at least 10 people.


By masher2 (blog) on 1/15/2008 9:15:21 AM , Rating: 4
> "You'd have to question EVERYONE who bought a PS3 to get realistic numbers "

Luckily not, thanks to the miracle of statistical sampling.


By The Sword 88 on 1/15/2008 10:05:24 AM , Rating: 2
But that still leaves the question of where did his stats come from?