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BobY · 05-20-2006, 12:18 AM

I'm sure they will have different firmware if for no other reason than to fix any bugs found by Toshiba's unpaid beta testers..err..initial customers

.

It's too bad the info from RCA on a product that will be in stores next week is sketchy and not up-to-date

. This is an interesting marketing strategy. Toshiba is allowing a "competitor" to sell an HD-A1 with additional features for $100 less than theirs. Perhaps the HD-A1 was just to get something out there quickly at a lower price and Toshiba will discontniue it soon after the RCA product hits so they can concentrate on the higher margin HD-AX1. RCA can afford to operate at lower margin since they probably didn't spend a cent to develop, design or manufacture "their" player and have no costs to amortize.

I'm thinking at this point Toshiba isn't so much targeting customers for HD DVD, but rather aiming to convince the studios that HD DVD is out there in the market, from multiple manufacturers and they're selling all they can make. If the studios who are married to Blu-Ray come to the conclusion that HD DVD is an already established format that is gaining momentum, they may dump support for Blu-Ray, or more likely throw support behind HD DVD as well--after all, those are just "Hollywood marriages" of convenience. If the studios think they are missing an opportunity to make money they won't think twice about "cheating" on Sony...

05-20-2006, 12:18 AM	#12
BobY What's all this, then?... Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,197	I'm sure they will have different firmware if for no other reason than to fix any bugs found by Toshiba's unpaid beta testers..err..initial customers. It's too bad the info from RCA on a product that will be in stores next week is sketchy and not up-to-date. This is an interesting marketing strategy. Toshiba is allowing a "competitor" to sell an HD-A1 with additional features for $100 less than theirs. Perhaps the HD-A1 was just to get something out there quickly at a lower price and Toshiba will discontniue it soon after the RCA product hits so they can concentrate on the higher margin HD-AX1. RCA can afford to operate at lower margin since they probably didn't spend a cent to develop, design or manufacture "their" player and have no costs to amortize. I'm thinking at this point Toshiba isn't so much targeting customers for HD DVD, but rather aiming to convince the studios that HD DVD is out there in the market, from multiple manufacturers and they're selling all they can make. If the studios who are married to Blu-Ray come to the conclusion that HD DVD is an already established format that is gaining momentum, they may dump support for Blu-Ray, or more likely throw support behind HD DVD as well--after all, those are just "Hollywood marriages" of convenience. If the studios think they are missing an opportunity to make money they won't think twice about "cheating" on Sony...