Toshiba to Push Back HD DVD Players
Following news that Warner Home Video has delayed the release of its initial batch of HD DVD movie titles by three weeks, Toshiba said Thursday it will hold off on launching the first HD DVD players until next month. The company initially targeted a March debut of the high-definition DVD format.
Blaming the delay on technical issues, Warner said its HD DVD discs would not appear until April 18, rather than March 28 as previously announced. Also, its list of launch titles has been scaled back as well to three: "Million Dollar Baby," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Last Samurai."
Warner explained that it needs the extra time to ensure that it ships a "flawless" product. Nearly everything that is being done to produce these discs -- the copy protection, codec and compression algorithms -- is new, Warner executives said.
"Toshiba is currently working with the studios as well as our retailers, to finalize the sale date of our players," Toshiba said in a statement. "In order to maximize the launch of HD DVD, we intend to synchronize the launch of our players with HD DVD title releases."
HD DVD isn't the only one running into launch hiccups. Analysts say Sony's rival Blu-ray format will be hindered by a delay in the PlayStation 3, which won't be available until the holiday season rather than spring 2006 as expected.
Sony had previously touted the PlayStation 3 as a low-cost Blu-ray player that will spur adoption of its format over HD DVD. In contrast, the company plans to offer a $1,000 USD standalone unit and partner Pioneer will debut a Blu-ray player priced at $1,500 USD.
Toshiba has two HD DVD players planned for launch next month: the HD-XA1 for $799 USD and HD-A1 for $499.