Why Toshiba needs to think beyond Blu-ray

A report has surfaced in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun that Toshiba, one of the top backers of the HD DVD format, will be releasing a Blu-ray player before the end of 2009.

Toshiba lost with this player; why should it release a Blu-ray player?

(Credit: Toshiba)

It's a fascinating concept. the company that spent years trying to tell the world that Blu-ray is inferior is now looking to tell those same people that it really is worthwhile. Wow.

I understand that Blu-ray is becoming more popular. I know that it's slowly, but surely, gaining market share in the disc market. But it's not the only way to bring entertainment to the masses.

The vexed consumer
Tech companies have nothing unless the consumer base trusts them. Whether it's faulty products that break that trust or poor business practices, once it's broken, it could lead to financial ruin. That's precisely why I don't see why Toshiba would want to release a Blu-ray player.

During the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Toshiba did all it could to highlight issues with the competing format. It explained why its format was better. And it did everything it could to make Blu-ray look less desirable.

Even after the war was over, Toshiba didn't stop with the Blu-ray bashing. In an interview with TechRadar last year, Toshiba's deputy general manager of HD DVD, Olivier Van Wynendaele, said his company "wouldn't change anything that it did" with its HD DVD strategy.

But it gets better. Van Wynendaele went on to say that HD DVD is "a finished standard, unlike Blu-ray." And in the end, even though Blu-ray won the format war against HD DVD, Toshiba's format was still "better than Blu-ray."

Speaking in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2008, Toshiba CEO Atsutoshi Nishida told the newspaper that his company had no intention of releasing a Blu-ray player. He even said Toshiba's upconverting DVD players would match HD technology.

"What people don't realize is that Hollywood studios are going to release new titles not just for Blu-ray but for standard DVDs as well, and there are a far greater number of current-generation DVD players out there," Nishida told the Journal. "If you watch standard DVDs on our players, the images are of very high quality because they include an 'upconverting' feature. And we're going to improve this even more, so that consumers won't be able to tell the difference from HD DVD images. The players would be much cheaper than Blu-ray players too. Next-generation DVD players are in a much weaker position than when standard DVD players were first introduced."

And yet, that "next-generation" player (a generalization that presumably includes Blu-ray) is exactly what Toshiba plans to release later this year.

Go elsewhere
But why? Since releasing a Blu-ray player is a suspect business decision, given its history of talking it down, wouldn't it make more sense for Toshiba to follow a different route?

Streaming media and downloadable content are quickly becoming a viable alternative to disc-based entertainment. Luckily, it seems Toshiba realizes that.

Toshiba offered a TiVo device back in 2004. It's currently not on sale.

In recent months, it has focused more on the set-top box space. Toshiba announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this past January that it plans to release a set-top box with Widget Channel technology. It's also looking toward a Japanese release of a set-top box that will allow users to record up to six HD shows at once.

Even Toshiba's DVD recorders with built-in tuners show that the company understands the market. So I don't see why Toshiba wouldn't shift more of its focus to supporting streaming content.

For example, Toshiba sells HDTVs; it should add streaming content as an added service in all its sets. LG, one of Toshiba's top competitors, is following that path.

It seems to me that Toshiba is coming to the Blu-ray market out of necessity. It's the last major electronics manufacturer to hold out on Blu-ray. And as the Blu-ray market continues to grow, it might see it as an opportunity to make a little something as it jumps on the bandwagon.

I get that. But I still think that there are better opportunities for the company to set the pace, rather than follow the leaders. It's indisputable that the future is in streaming and downloadable content. Each week, more companies are finding ways to bundle that idea with their products.

Toshiba obviously realizes that. But to capitalize on it, it should focus even more of its attention there. By doing so, it can ensure that it's on the cutting edge. More importantly, it would help the company maintain trust with consumers who will be confused by its decision to release a Blu-ray player, even though it has said in the past that it's not the format to buy.

Toshiba is testing the waters of streaming content, but to be successful, it might be best if it jumps right in.

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[chrkeller]

The real problem issue was Toshiba's inability to accept defeat. They lost the format war long, long before they announced HD-DVD was dead. They should have thrown the towel in and backed bluray 2 years ago.

[Random_Walk]

Agreed, but one nitpick - IIRC, Microsoft had pushed them into it in the first place, and 2 years ago Microsoft was still selling HD-DVD players as xbox add-ons (I wonder how those particular consumers feel right about now?) Back then Toshiba was kinda screwed - they had HD-DVD gear on the shelves, and their big partner in that side of the format war did as well.

I do agree that now, two years later, it's all about saving face and little else (very little else).

I also agree that Instead of trying to stand there shouting, Toshiba should have started thinking like Sony (back in the tape war days when Betamax lost to VHS). You see, Sony was smart enough to shut the hell up about the whole Betamax vs. VHS thing, and quietly started selling VHS gear alongside its Betamax machinery... then planned for dominating the format wars the next time they saw an opportunity.

This go 'round, Sony was ready to fight; they intentionally packed each PS3 with a Blu-ray player to bolster the userbase. They also (by now) happened to own a major movie studio, and began hotly flirting with its own competition (e.g. Paramount) to do exclusive Blu-ray releases.

there was no way in hell Toshiba could stand up to that, no matter what the technical arguments were. Couple it with Toshiba's own HD-DVD partner/advocate quietly backing away from the battlefield (note that Microsoft's xbox 360 never came with HD-DVD players, but were offered such as a somewhat pricey add-on package), and suddenly guess who was left holding the bag?

Once you figure out all the players, it gets real funny watching the various OS fanboy clubs talk about it... Microsofties bragging on Blu-ray player capability (while Microsoft itself hotly fought against it at first in favor of HD-DVD), while *nix fans (OSX, Linux) claim that it's not a big selling point at all (even through the PS3 with Linux onboard was among the first OSes to have a Blu-ray driver, player, etc. :) )

[stepyourgameup]

I don't want to hear about streaming anything until it can match the quality of a BD disk, both visually and phonically.

I care absolutely zero about BD and only want streaming. I've seen BD and see minimal quality difference between that and older formats. I absolutely detest all the crap that goes on even standard DVDs (i.e. previews, features,...). Just give me the movie and give it to me now. Streaming offers this. Physical media forcefully removes it.

[stepyourgameup]

It's not just the visual, the audio is much superior on BD than a download.

[Nataku4ca]

@ no name

try black hawk down on hi def, and make sure all ur connections are right...

there is a big difference unless u are color blind :)

[Hyper_Dude]

People who say they see no difference with BD vs standard DVD either don't have decent TVs or need to get their eyes checked. I'm watching and playing on a 47" LCD 1080p and it's night and day. That's a sub $900 TV, btw, so it's not just for super-high end consumers.

[Inconnux]

The problem isn't that the quality is better on a BD, but the quality isn't worth the price compared to a DVD. I would rather save $5-10 per movie. Blu-ray doesn't offer enough to justify the price tag. when Blu-ray comes down to DVD prices, then I will switch, but like the vast majority of people out there... DVD is good enough.

[thorsteinthestaffstruck]

Ah, here you are surrounded by technology and you fail to understand the consumer. BD is superior and the world knows it. Also, consumer could care less what Toshiba said a year or two ago if they can put out a great product. I want to OWN the movie, not fiddle around with On Demand, etc. People still want something to "show off." How impressive is a movie collection if no one can look at it?
Further, digital distribution, while a possible alternative, isn't viable yet. I want to watch Watchmen (BD) RIGHT NOW instead of tomorrow (after it downloads.)

[crazynexus]

I still love how people are going gah gah over download/streaming movies. I do it on netflix, but if there's something I want to watch in HD, I freakin' get the bluray from netflix. until we see bandwidth speeds in the entire country that is affordable like in Japan and S korea, streaming isn't going to overtake a single thing, although I did notice Dishnetwork is offering HD movies on demand now (but at $3 or more a pop, why would anyone bother with netflix?)

[hightechfanboy]

Streaming and downloadable are the future, yes, but not for at least few years, and that's enought for blue-ray to be with us just like VHS did. The problem with streeming isbecause not everybody can get the highest speed internet yet. Sure you have high speed internet but is not fast enougt yet, and what make it worse is those ISP putting caps on how much usage you can have everymonth. Solution; better infrastucture, we might have it in a few years, just enough for blu-ray to succed as this generation format.

[libertyforall1776]

Forget spinning discs, how about Flash Media cards like SD?! Discs are not durable enough.

[sethum1]

You have a problem with a profit-seeking business building a player for a competing company's product AFTER it's own product was wholly eliminated from the market and from industry standards??

Do you have the same problem with SEGA designing video games that only play on the Nintendo Wii?

Toshiba's upcoming addition the bland Blu-Ray Player market will not in any way hamper its push towards alternative products like HDD recording and video streaming. And you can be sure researchers at Toshiba are already working on developing new technologies and standards for future products that would crush Blu-Ray.

[C0mmanderB0nd]

Toshiba was right about blu ray being unfinished, BD 2.0 is essentialy HD DVD 1.0, an update made after HD DVD was effectively dead.

And think about it, Toshiba has to start making money back from the money pit of pushing HD DVD, there is no shame in adapting the defacto standard. Sony made VHS, and Toshiba will make a blu ray player. Nothing to see here.

[macksumum]

if they release a blu-ray player then they will lose even more money because blu-ray movies cost too much money and as a result blu-ray will fail. most people do not even care about high definition.

[Nataku4ca]

most? i wouldn't know but i know for sure when they saw hidef that was actually done right, they care just like when dvd came out

[monkeyfun14]

"It's a fascinating concept. the company that spent years trying to tell the world that Blu-ray is inferior is now looking to tell those same people that it really is worthwhile. Wow."

Apple does it =P

[sanjayb]

You really can't resist digging into Apple any chance you get eh fanboy??

[MDHDMan]

I agree with the others who have registered their objection to this gratuitous bit of BD bashing; specifically, I agree that BD is the best A/V medium available today, that streaming is a poor alternative, and that it makes no sense for Toshiba to continue to reject a format that died more than a year ago. In spite of my great enthusiasm for Blu-ray, however, I have to admit that the purveyors of the format sometimes seem to be doing their best to sink it: more often than not, each studio seems to be trying to outdo the other in making the discs a puzzle to navigate rather than just giving the viewer a simple set of tools for accessing the movie. I mean, something is wrong when the discs have to include a user guide; and what stunningly poor design not to include a resume feature on Java-based discs! Bookmarks don't really cut it because one still has to go through all the loading and preliminary junk if he or she accidentally hits "stop" rather than "pause." I programmed my universal remote so that the "stop" button invokes "pause" on the BD player. And I'm still waiting for BD-Live to provide something worth enduring the lengthy load times. And yet, for me the clarity of picture and sound make it worth putting up with all these unnecessary aggravations.

[AgentJohnson]

I've already bought a Blu-ray player so I don't care what Toshiba decides to do next. It's their loss. The Blu-ray industry is doing fine without them.

[The_Omega_Man]

This is not about, "Saving face," for Toshiba. It's about money, pure and simple! BD's market share, initial development and licensing costs, up 'til now did not make a good business case, especially for a company that had to absorb close to 1billion yen loss in 2008 as a result of a failed format battle. The product manager for HD DVD is probably going to go to their grave, saying that their product was/still is superior to that of the competition!

I agree Toshiba needs to and is currently working on the future technologies, with a huge ($$$) lesson learned this time! But they can not leave ANY potential money on the table in Japan, even if it is in a sense, Blood Money! They have shareholders to answer to!

"If you can't beat 'um, join 'um,".........And then beat 'um at their own game! =)

By the way HD DVD drives for the Xbox are STILL on sale at some major US retailers and so is the existing inventory of, very cheap, HD DVD movies. It does work and quite well for HD and SD movies, I might add.

Downloads and SD memory are the potential future for content delivery, BD is a just money grabbing stop-gap IMHO. Ironically, I expect SONY to actually lead the charge to the new digital medium HT AV promised land! Time will tell.

Most consumers do not have the Audio setup required to fully appreciate the Audio enhancements that BD can bring into the movie watching experience. This is part of the BD TAX that most do not initially realize when they stand drooling at a kiosk playing BD movies. This is one reason that BD is a harder sell than than originally anticipated. Major AVR mfgs, got on board because they saw potential sales coming as a result.... The same with HDTV mfgs. After all what real good is BD without a large HDTV ($$) and a good 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system ($$)? SD DVD is good (not great) but it does the job cheaply! To each his own, I say!

[ewelch]

The author thinks that Toshiba making a mistake by not dropping HD-DVD and going Blu-ray should continue their ill-informed decision not to support Blu-ray. Right, like the ignorant politicos who maintain a political position out of spite rather than make the reasonable and rational choice of going with what is viable.

And to say digital downloads is indisputable is like saying 200 years ago that space flight will indisputably be part of the future. Well, yeah, 200 years from them.

The problem with digital downloads is the pipes. You see, the owners don't like competition. So they wil do everything the can to keep their customers from streaming any digital media but the media they charge an arm and a leg for.

Time-Warner and their ilk will push for bandwidth caps. Why? Because it's not fair to charge everyone the same thing when some people don't use nearly as much bandwidth. (But wait, what about a la carte programming? Fair is fair - hypocrites.) So they will be keeping people far from having the bandwidth it takes to stream movies with the quality that you get with even the worst Blu-ray.

Anyone who says their upconverting DVD players are as good as Blu-ray need to have their eyes and ears checked. There is no comprison.

The author obviously has a horse the the download race, and he's not about to admit that his favored technology is hobbled by the very people who carry it into our homes. And until that ends - not likely for years and years, optical media is the only choice for the quality our large TVs require.

THAT, is indisputable. Sure we'll have great streaming 100 years from now. It sure ain't happening while the current people in charge of our media companies and government agencies are in charge.

[hturner1949]

Which format is or wasn't better is a moot point. The plain in simple fact is that if make you HDTV's then you need to offer a Blu-ray player as well as standard definiion DVD players. A co-worker recently bought a 52" Toshiba LCD TV, but a Panasonic Blu-ray player. She also considered a Sony HDTV and probably would have paired it with a Sony Blu-ray player. So Toshiba lost an opportunity for a sale by not offering a Blu-ray player. This has nothing to do about saving face, it's all about dead Presidents. Hell even Visio is offering a Blu-ray player now.