Toshiba CEDIA press confrence

[Robert Zohn]

The theme was Star Trek and the presenters were dressed in Star Trek outfits and the stage was set with Star Trek decorations. The first presentation was all about their new LCD panels, however, I'll just discuss the HD DVD side of the presentation here.

Here's the list of the new news.

1. All Gen 3 players will be packed with Born Identity and 300. All ValueElectronics.com Gen 3 advance orders qualify for the two additional titles packed with the players.

2. Buy a HD DVD player and the Star Trek box set and their is a mail-in rebate for a Star Trek HD DVD phaser remote control unit, very cool looking and sound effects. All ValueElectronics.com pre-orders are eligible.

3. The 5 free HD DVD movies will be extended till 2/28/08 and new titles are added to the selection. xBox and notebook PC with HD DVD drives will qualify for the 5 free HD DVD movie offer.

4. Just considering Warner, Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation more than 125 new titles will be release by the end of '07.

5. Shinco, Ventura, Alpine, Onkyo and Integra and the 3 new Gen 3 HD DVD players will all ship by early Q4 '07.

6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of ‘07. (I know htis number sounds high so I'll check tomorrow and post a correction if my notes are incorrect)

7. Amazon and ValueEletronics.com report the A2 is the #1 best seller.

8. According to NPD data, BD stand alone players have 16% market share, HD DVD enjoys a 33% market share, while SD DVD holds 51%.

9. All studios are going to expand the connectivity features, like on the Star Trek HD DVD you can connect to CBS's server and get a tour of the Star Ship Enterprise.

10. All Toshiba products are Earth friendly and will carry the "Earth Protection" logo on their packaging. There is a long list of things Toshiba has developed to ensure their Earth friendly compliance.

HD DVD boldly goes where no other format has gone before.

-Robert

[vooswing]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of ‘07. (I know htis number sounds high so I'll check tomorrow and post a correction if my notes are incorrect)

8. According to NPD data, BD stand alone players have 16% market share, HD DVD enjoys a 33% market share, while SD DVD holds 51%.

-Robert

30 million must be wrong. I think even 1 million is optimistic by the end of 2007.

The stand alone players sound really high also. 50/50 between HD and SD players ??? I have been seeing 96% SD and 4% HD or worse...

BTW... are you there?

Thanks for the info!

[Overseer]

Thanks Robert.

6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of ‘07. (I know htis number sounds high so I'll check tomorrow and post a correction if my notes are incorrect)

Yeah, that does sound a little out there.

[The_Omega_Man]

I expect there to be a correction to that sales expectation, very soon!

[dysfunction26]

Originally Posted by vooswing

30 million must be wrong. I think even 1 million is optimistic by the end of 2007.

The stand alone players sound really high also. 50/50 between HD and SD players ??? I have been seeing 96% SD and 4% HD or worse...

BTW... are you there?

Thanks for the info!

It's probably 3 million, including computers and every other form of HD DVD player (worldwide).

[dysfunction26]

2. Buy a HD DVD player and the Star Trek box set and their is a mail-in rebate for a Star Trek HD DVD phaser remote control unit, very cool looking and sound effects. All ValueElectronics.com pre-orders are eligible.

3. The 5 free HD DVD movies will be extended till 2/28/08 and new titles are added to the selection. xBox and notebook PC with HD DVD drives will qualify for the 5 free HD DVD movie offer.


Do you have any idea if 300 and Bourne Identity will have UPC's intact? I already own Bourne and have ZERO desire to own 300. I was hoping I could exchange them at a store for something else.

Also, any word on the new titles that will be available with the 5 free by mail offer?

I definitely will buy from you come late November, if you still have the 2 extra free discs with a 3rd generation player. 9 discs free and the player, that offer can't be beat.

[imdaly]

Originally Posted by dysfunction26

Also, any word on the new titles that will be available with the 5 free by mail offer?

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/...y1/cont/48.jpg

According to the slide shown, we can expect the following titles:

Aeon Flux
Babel
Black Rain
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Darkman
The Fugitive
The Frighteners
Full Metal Jacket
Hulk
The Italian Job
Pitch Black
Syriana
The Thing
TMNT
U2: Rattle and Hum


What's not clear is the groupings they'll be offered in (Group A-E, one title from each group).

[nesto719]

Originally Posted by dysfunction26

It's probably 3 million, including computers and every other form of HD DVD player (worldwide).

that sounds a little more realistic. but 30 mil would be sweet.

[HD Guru]

i don't think they meant 3 million standalones either

did they not just revise their projections to hopefully hit 1 million?

[tranzparentl]

remember, Toshiba ships 8-9 million laptops a year. At least half of them now have HD DVD drives, so they could easily ship over a million laptop drives by the EOY, especially with Xmas season.

[jaycee900]

Originally Posted by imdaly

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/...y1/cont/48.jpg

According to the slide shown, we can expect the following titles:

Aeon Flux
Babel
Black Rain
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Darkman
The Fugitive
The Frighteners
Full Metal Jacket
Hulk
The Italian Job
Pitch Black
Syriana
The Thing
TMNT
U2: Rattle and Hum


What's not clear is the groupings they'll be offered in (Group A-E, one title from each group).

Its thats true its abit disapointing line-up, i know they are free and all but when you have to choose a title just for the sake of it and not because you want it then somethings not quite right!

Also Europe better get the 2 pack-in discs especially when they are the best discs out of all of these listed!

[dBock]

1. I think 30 million makes perfect sense if:

a: you count HD DVD add ons, plus the new Venturers, the deals, the Computers and such. I think Toshiba is getting ready to announce HD-DVD being standard in all of their computers. I think by taking the PS3 approach with a trojan horse they'd only stand to gain. Once people have it in their laptops they'd probably also consider getting it for their TV. Once there they have two players. Wow. I'm a Mac person though so I'm hoping the lack of a blu-ray player released yet by apple when they should have a long time ago says something.

b: you include the current amount of players already out there.

2. The 125 titles sounds pretty dang amazing. I could care less whether they are good or not. Having more than Blu-ray in number of titles while blu-ray scrambles to throw out discs that don't work on all players might just seal the deal. When we have a bigger rack at Best Buy for all the HD DVDs, it might tell customers who is winning.

3. My only hope is that the other brand players start showing up more. Or that Samsung releases an HD DVD stand alone. They've got Blu-ray, consumers are asking for it. They would only stand to gain from having it, am I right? What is everyone elses thoughts?

[dysfunction26]

Originally Posted by jaycee900

Its thats true its abit disapointing line-up, i know they are free and all but when you have to choose a title just for the sake of it and not because you want it then somethings not quite right!

Also Europe better get the 2 pack-in discs especially when they are the best discs out of all of these listed!

If I could get these:

TMNT
The Frighteners
Pitch Black
Full Metal Jacket
Aeon Flux

That would be great for me!

[Rob.D.inToronto]

Does anyone have any idea who ordered all the low end models? I have read that Wal Mart won't carry them, how many were made?

[glocks out]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of ‘07. (I know htis number sounds high so I'll check tomorrow and post a correction if my notes are incorrect)

That has to be wrong. There are 130,774,966 DVD players sold in the US. That's saying HD DVD will make 22% of total DVD player sales since 1997 will be made in the next 3 months. Quite ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

8. According to NPD data, BD stand alone players have 16% market share, HD DVD enjoys a 33% market share, while SD DVD holds 51%.

That has to be wrong as well.

Where do you get this crap?