It's been pretty obvious from the outset that the next generation of DVD formats were doomed to failure without significant changes. What wasn't for consumers to like?
Two competing standards, but both featuring
restrictive copy protection (though it's really proving
typically ineffective) and
high prices. Given the fact that standard DVD players deliver good enough picture quality for many people (even if they have an HD television) and both players and content are readily and cheaply available, it's hardly surprising that Toshiba has
sliced its sales forecast for HD DVD players, even as HDTV sales remain strong. The company brags that it's got a 60 percent share of the North American market for next-generation DVD players, which is nice and all, but adds that now expects to only sell 1 million of them in the region this year, down from earlier predictions of 1.8 million in calendar 2007, and 3 million in the fiscal year ending in March 2008. The company's trying to flog an unattractive product using a seriously flawed strategy, and until it delivers some changes, sales aren't going to pick up.