The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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So what? Big deal! Just b/c Toshiba is making a BD player doen't mean that BD is going to make it.
If the story is true (and I'm not entirely sure I take it at face value), then it means that Toshiba believes dipping a toe in the Blu-ray waters is profitable.
Toshiba is a mid-market brand which means they can sell what other companies have to sell for $199 for $299-399. Now, EHD has made the claim that mainstream prices have dropped to $99 recently, which is patently untrue (yes, a couple of brands are being closed out at that price at a couple of stores, but there's no evidence any manufacturers are making BD players that are intended to be sold at that price), but it's certainly possible that by year's end, the cost of making a (modern, non-obsolete) BD player will fall to the $100-150 price range. If that's the case, and if BD players are being shifted, then Toshiba certainly can expect to be able to put something out there that would sell with a decent mark-up.
What I would hope is that Toshiba doesn't forget those who invested in its HD format and ended up shafted by the entire industry. The cost difference between a BD drive and a combo BD+HD DVD drive boils down mostly to patent royalties that Toshiba doesn't have to pay. The cost difference between BD high level support and HD DVD high level support is also not that high as the majority of the patented technologies are common to both platforms, with HD DVD's Advanced Content system being the exception.
So I would hope Toshiba throws HD DVD people a bone and makes it a combo player. There's little reason for them not to, and it would certainly help their image - and give their players just a little niche market advantage the others don't have.
But we will see.
Quite so Red
Besides I'll believe this when I actually see it (and not a silly photoshop job).
It's one thing to slot someone else's BD drive into your laptop quite another to actually manufacture a standalone.
I could see their BD player being dual format, but I can also see it not. 30/70 chances if you ask me. But I think a good parallel would be when Sony entered the VHS market. How/when did they do it?
I hope they make a good player. If it's a good player with the same quality as my XA2, I might pick one up and move my PS3 to another room.
Those of you that believe there will be HD DVD compatibility should just let go of the idea. While it's technically feasible to do so, Toshiba wrote off all the R&D for HD DVD and making a dual format player would require them to do some creative accounting.
I'd rather they spend some more R&D money on 2160p and higher resolution on SDXC.