Trading Markets: "Toshiba to Keep Aloof from Chinese HD DVD Player Sector"

[BBlue]

Never, never I will buy a Toshiba product. I have had enough of this company which can not accept that it has lost!

Toshiba to Keep Aloof from Chinese HD-DVD Player Sector
Monday, February 04, 2008; Posted: 04:36 AM

BEIJING, Feb 04, 2008 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) -- TOSBF | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Toshiba Corporation, a backer of HD-DVD, will keep aloof from the Chinese HD-DVD player market when Sony-branded Blu-ray DVD players are in hot sales in the Chinese market, said Toshiba China Co., Ltd. on January 31, 2008.

By doing so, it is intended to give its rival - the Blu-ray DVD group - a blow by encouraging more companies to produce HD- DVD players in the nation, said sources.

As a matter of fact, plenty of domestic companies in the China High Definition DVD Industry Association are preparing to rollout HD-DVD players in the Chinese market during 2008, said Lu Da, an official of the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center. Some of the products, priced at no more than CNY 3,000, will be available in the market in the coming March.

Therefore, the largest HD-DVD player supporter is not going to make a foray into the Chinese market in order not to affect the sales of the Chinese manufacturers, citing sources.

The production costs of the to-be-launched HD-DVD players by domestic companies will be lower than the imported Sony and Pioneer-branded Blu-ray DVD competitors, thanks to the Chinese HD-DVD companies' efforts to adjust the international HD-DVD standard.

However, the HD-DVD player market still faces an unclear prospect in the year due to some uncertainties, citing Lu. The association is now studying about the Audio and Video Coding Standard (AVS) application in the HD-DVD player decoder chip, in a bid to decrease the production costs. But the association has not gained material progress currently. In addition, there is not enough film supply for HD-DVD player in the market.

In fact, Toshiba has wet its feet in the Chinese HD-DVD market in the past year. Toshiba, together with some global HD- DVD backers and Chinese companies set up the China High Definition DVD Industry Association on September 7, 2007, in an attempt to promote the mass production of China High Definition DVD (CH-DVD).

Since January 24, 2008, the first CNY 4,990 Blu-ray DVD player catering for the Chinese customers, launched by Blu-ray backer Sony Corporation, has been available on the shelves of the leading Chinese household appliance retailers such as GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (SEHK: 0493), Dazhong Electronics Corporation and Suning Appliance Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 002024).

In fact, Pioneer-branded Blu-ray DVD players have been provided to the customers in the nation in the past year. However, the pricy CNY 14,800 scared the potential buyers away.

From dycj.ynet.com, Page 1, Friday, February 01, 2008 info@SinoCast.com

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/...0News/1059124/

[greekjgg]

China is in a world of its own anyway. 95% of all purchased media are bootlegs, so this isn't a threat to Blu in any way!!

[Blu As Hell]

Originally Posted by greekjgg

China is in a world of its own anyway. 95% of all purchased media are bootlegs, so this isn't a threat to Blu in any way!!

Exactly. Even if the chinese buy the players they won't buy the media.

[jopemoro]

Weren't the chinese HD DVD players different than the the rest, as in 'only HD DVD in name'?

[Phane]

Originally Posted by jopemoro

Weren't the chinese HD DVD players different than the the rest, as in 'only HD DVD in name'?

Not even by name... they are CH-DVD and while they are technologically the same, they use completely different copy protection and codecs which are incompatible with HD-DVD.

[CAB]

If anything is certain in the world, it's the studios' desire to back another media standard for China that is a sieve for region controls and copy protection. There's so much money to be made because thieves pay so well.

[plee]

Man...who's driving Toshiba into the ground?!? A company that was pretty decent seems to have lost to direction and mind...

[RUR]

To put things in perspective:

Originally Posted by kjack

This is just a group that wants to adopt the basics of HD DVD and add AVS audio/video codec support to it. It is not government mandated -- consumers will decide if the format is successful or not by deciding whether or not to buy it.

There's another group in China that wants to do the same using Blu-ray, and have joined the BDA to pursue either adopting Blu-ray as-is or with the addition of AVS codec.

Now for something funny. During a presentation I saw about a month ago, a major Chinese manufacturer was using the CHD-DVD term, but after I inquired further, I was told that it could be Blu-ray based. Turns out CHD-DVD has already become a generic term there that is technology independent. Sorta like some Chinese DVD player manufacturers adding the logo of one of their failed HDM formats just to sell more DVD players by riding on the name recognition by consumers.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...9&postcount=10

[CptGreedle]

Forget China! They can do whatever they want, cause they will just bootleg it and put it on illegal discs or online. No one buys their movies there anyways!

[davidPS3]

I would not worry about this one. It should have no effect on our Blu!

[BBlue]

I'm not worried about chinese competition. I just find Toshitba's action despicable...

BEIJING, Feb 04, 2008 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) -- TOSBF | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Toshiba Corporation, a backer of HD-DVD, will keep aloof from the Chinese HD-DVD player market when Sony-branded Blu-ray DVD players are in hot sales in the Chinese market, said Toshiba China Co., Ltd. on January 31, 2008.

By doing so, it is intended to give its rival - the Blu-ray DVD group - a blow by encouraging more companies to produce HD- DVD players in the nation, said sources.

[catterwall]

mother f*%&#@$...

[maximiza]

I think HD-DVD is good for China, they can bootleg till the cows come home. They will convert Blu's to HD-DVD then run out of room...

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Seeing that the title is Toshiba trying to screw BD:

Here's what Toshy is trying to screw:


(He never tapped out dammit, he never gave up)!

But in the end, this will be BD:


Note the dark blue lighting.

And oh yeah, all the HD DVD's will be all bootlegs.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Blu As Hell

Exactly. Even if the chinese buy the players they won't buy the media.

Good thing HD DVD is so difficult and expensive to replicate.

Given the history of Chinese DVD royalty cheating and the flood of bootleg DVDs on the streets, why would anyone think building upon this base would make any sense at all?

I predict the Chinese makers will not pay their royalties AGAIN (Toshiba will see squat), and the AACS will try to shut them down FORCING owners to buy bootleg HD DVD (because the real discs won't play).

Gary

[HDPlasma]

Aren't we talking about the country that used VCD instead of DVD since it was good enough ?

[ranma]

China format winner is decided by pirate companies only. Any format w/o pirate support = lose in China.

The current next-gen format in China is AVCHD, avc encoded 720P/1080P movies on DVD-9 media.

Both CH DVD and Blu-ray has same problems in China - No content providers.

[181]

They will not concede defeat because some execs may have made promises to the board that Toshiba will keep its revenue stream from media royalties, like they have now from DVD's, into the High Definition media market. When this is all over, expect to see Toshiba execs forcefully resign.

[jadafa]

3000 RMB? What a ripoff!! No Chinese is going to pay 3000 RMB for dead technology.

[Blu-Generation]

What is the point of all this? Once Paramount and Uni comes over to the Blu side. What is the point of HD-DVD player at all? Without movie for the next 6 years or so. It can't screw Blu-ray. This war is over.