Toshiba CE Sales Strategy: Salt the Earth?

[olarmy96]

I'd like some of those in the CE realm to comment on this, but it seems to me that Toshiba's pricing strategy is effectively a "salt the earth" campaign that will limit other CE companies from even considering entering the HD-DVD market.

If we assume that Toshiba is losing money on these low-priced players, which seems like a safe assumption, then why would any other company enter this space? Once consumers buy players for $200, they will not go back and pay $400 for a player.

Without other CE companies supporting the market, it seems like HD-DVD player sales growth will be severely limited. Sure there may be a temporary uptick, but how long will Toshiba keep dumping money down that hole alone?