After HD DVD Drop, Toshiba Spends $835M to Back PS3

Qbfinest83 · 02-23-2008, 07:07 PM

Dont know if this was posted already but

http://www.dailytech.com/After+HD+DV...ticle10826.htm

Quote:

Sony gives Toshiba something in return for its troubles -- Japanese Cell chip plants for $835M

A new twist has emerged with the death of HD DVD. After Warner, Best Buy, Walmart and Netflix jumped on the Blu bandwagon, the fate of HD DVD was already sealed.

Despite the grim news, the principle HD DVD developer, Toshiba Corporation, refused to initially comment on its plans for its HD DVD. However, as many analysts predicted, Toshiba came out last week and officially surrendered to Blu-ray.

Many saw Toshiba's willingness to give up on HD DVD as a logical business decision and perhaps an admission of Blu-ray's superiority. However, there might be a little more to the story. Reuters reports that on Wednesday Toshiba and Sony Corporation, one of Blu-ray's principle developers, agreed to a major business deal, reached just after Toshiba made its final HD DVD decision.

Sony agreed to sell it microchip processing facilities in western Japan for approximately $835M USD. These facilities currently produce Cell processors and RSX graphic chips. Toshiba will enter the joint venture with Sony on April 1, 2008.

Toshiba, IBM and Sony were the principle developers of the Cell microprocessor, but Toshiba previously showed little interest in using the chip for any of its own projects. Sony touts the Cell broadband engine in its Playstation 3 consoles; IBM uses the Cell processor in high performance computing clusters. Toshiba has vowed to now use the Cell in its upcoming products.

While Toshiba and Sony entered into talks back in October 2007 and reached a tentative agreement to sell the cell facilities, the two companies continued to haggle about the price. Sony's concession of what is considered a favorable price for Toshiba will likely strike many following Toshiba's drop as HD DVD as more than a coincidence, and perhaps a sign of an informal agreement.

The other interesting aspect of the move is that it indicates a clear shift by Toshiba to back the PS3. The PS3, which last month outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360, previously had few ties to the company; while Microsoft's number one ally in hardware manufacturing has always been Toshiba. Toshiba manufacturers several components for the Xbox 360, including the HD DVD add-on, and the Microsoft Zune MP3 players.

Toshiba's flip-flop may have been in the cards for a while. Microsoft showed little remose as HD DVD took second place to Blu-ray; a move Toshiba must have recognized from its American ally. Now the solidified PS3 venture between Sony and Toshiba indicates that Toshiba now has switched to backing the PS3 almost exclusively, another victory for Sony.

Pretty good read. I read someone else something about the microchip processing facilities that were sold is 60% Toshiba and 20% sony 20% SCE (or 40% sony). Also I wondering if this is a little way to stick it to MS for not including a version of the XBOX with HDDVD built-in I doubt it since Toshiba was one of the company that help build the CELL but its fun to speculate

Jimmy Smith · 02-23-2008, 07:11 PM

Toshiba backing Playstation 3

And I think to myself. What a wonderful world

Qbfinest83 · 02-23-2008, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Toshiba backing Playstation 3

And I think to myself. What a wonderful world

LOL its to there benefit if the Bluray does take over DVD they need another source of income and Sony already said that they have a 10 year plan for the PS3 and now the more PS3 sold the more demand the chips will be the more money Toshiba will make

Lee Stewart · 02-23-2008, 07:29 PM

What a BS article.

Toshiba has been supplying parts for the PS3 since it was released.

eapleitez · 02-23-2008, 08:11 PM

Plus this Cell factory deal was hammered out months ago. BS article.

neal77 · 02-23-2008, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Toshiba backing Playstation 3

And I think to myself. What a wonderful world

Why do you like Sony so much. What have they done for you besides charge you more for their products?

Lee Stewart · 02-23-2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neal77

Why do you like Sony so much. What have they done for you besides charge you more for their products?

And the horse laugh is coming soon . . .

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/y...ly-be-a-sharp/

It may not BE a Sony product after all

anythingwt · 02-23-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

And the horse laugh is coming soon . . .

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/y...ly-be-a-sharp/

It may not BE a Sony product after all

Jimmy Smith · 02-23-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neal77

Why do you like Sony so much. What have they done for you besides charge you more for their products?

I don't particularly like Sony. I just thought Blu-Ray was a better format then HD-DVD and Playstation 3 is the best game console. Not that HD-DVD and the Xbox 360 were bad products I just like Blu-Ray better. I have had my beefs with Sony (there lack of an upscaling firmware update for non-HD Blu-Rays, the lack of extras on the Spider-Man Blu-Rays, the whole UMD format). However at this moment in this format war I think they had the better product and the better business plan, plain and simple. Not based on loyalty to any company just looking at the facts.

cbcdesign · 02-23-2008, 09:01 PM

Ignoring the HD DVD/Blu ray side of things there are things that the 360 can do that the PS3 cannot. Where media, live gaming and the sheer choice of games is concerned the 360 is hand down the better choice. MS really thought about the extending capabilities of the 360 too and connected to a decent media centre PC it is stunning. The Live TV, TV Guide, Video, Photo and Music menus are very slick indeed and of course the 360 supports a wider range of music formats including WMA with DRM. I like my PS3, it's a decent Blu Ray player/games console but it will never match my 360 for media.

strawberry · 02-23-2008, 09:15 PM

Not only was Toshiba's stake in this cell factory finalized months ago as stated above- but they've been in on cell since the early design stages several years ago.

**kamspy** · 02-23-2008, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

And the horse laugh is coming soon . . .

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/y...ly-be-a-sharp/

It may not BE a Sony product after all

They lost me when they bucketed the Plasmas.

Once again I will reiterate.

LCDs are manufactured and engineered for girley men.

Super XP · 02-23-2008, 09:20 PM

Toshiba "WILL" use this new CELL technology for there future line of HDTV's that will replace the current Video Processor they use right now with a CELL Processor.

hdtvjunkie · 02-23-2008, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamspy

They lost me when they bucketed the Plasmas.

Once again I will reiterate.

LCDs are manufactured and engineered for girley men.

LOL.

Loves2Watch · 02-23-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

And the horse laugh is coming soon . . .

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/y...ly-be-a-sharp/

It may not BE a Sony product after all

I read some news on another site today that said the Sony, Sharp deal was done and as soon as April 1st, this year, Sony will be using Sharp LCD panels in it's TV's.

02-23-2008, 07:11 PM	#2
Jimmy Smith 50>30 Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,998	Toshiba backing Playstation 3 And I think to myself. What a wonderful world __________________ Blu-Ray the only high definition disc format

02-23-2008, 08:11 PM	#5
eapleitez High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 389	Plus this Cell factory deal was hammered out months ago. BS article. __________________ HD DVD: 159 BD: 59 JVC HD-56FN97 Toshiba HD-A2 Sony PS3 80GB Nintendo Wii Sega Dreamcast Radiient Calypso 5.0 speakers BIC HT-63 rear surrounds BIC H-100 Denon AVR-888 Harmony One remote

02-23-2008, 09:01 PM	#10
cbcdesign High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North Somerset, UK Posts: 1,314	Ignoring the HD DVD/Blu ray side of things there are things that the 360 can do that the PS3 cannot. Where media, live gaming and the sheer choice of games is concerned the 360 is hand down the better choice. MS really thought about the extending capabilities of the 360 too and connected to a decent media centre PC it is stunning. The Live TV, TV Guide, Video, Photo and Music menus are very slick indeed and of course the 360 supports a wider range of music formats including WMA with DRM. I like my PS3, it's a decent Blu Ray player/games console but it will never match my 360 for media. __________________ 63 HD DVD's Latest Buy: The Big Lebowski & An American Werewolf in London 48 Blu-rays Latest Buy: Dances with Wolves

02-23-2008, 09:15 PM	#11
strawberry HD is the Lord. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS Posts: 1,635	Not only was Toshiba's stake in this cell factory finalized months ago as stated above- but they've been in on cell since the early design stages several years ago. __________________ Home Theater Setup ISF-Calibrated Hitachi 57S500 HDTV Denon 2807 AVR 7.1 JBL Venue Series Speaker System Toshiba HD-A1 PS3 60 Gig Xbox 360 Premium Moxi BMC 9022 DVR Logitech Harmony 880

02-23-2008, 09:20 PM	#13
Super XP Star Trek: The Movie! Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Toronto, ON. Canada Posts: 5,776	Toshiba "WILL" use this new CELL technology for there future line of HDTV's that will replace the current Video Processor they use right now with a CELL Processor. __________________ Toshiba Regza 46" HDTV (46RF350U) LCD 1080p/24p Toshiba HD-A35 / HD-A3 / XD-E500 LG GGC-H20L Super Multi / PC Drive Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 TrueHD/DTS HD MA Precision Acoustics™ 8Ch. Hi Def Loudspeaker Series DVD's = 200 = 130 = 10

02-23-2008, 07:29 PM	#4
Lee Stewart Behold - the future! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM Age: 58 Posts: 25,193	What a BS article. Toshiba has been supplying parts for the PS3 since it was released.

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