Toshiba Joining Blu-ray Bandwagon?

By : Erik Gruenwedel | Posted: 24 Jun 2009
egruenwedel@questex.com

Toshiba Corp., which spent more than $1 billion pushing HD DVD in a losing cause, reportedly is considering supporting erstwhile high-definition format rival Blu-ray Disc.

Atsutoshi Nishida, chairman and former CEO of the Japanese consumer electronics giant, said June 24 in Tokyo the company is considering backing Blu-ray in an effort to keep “our options open,” according to a post on Japanese site Nikkei.com.

Toshiba, which formally ceased HD DVD product shipments in March 2008 following a lengthy and acrimonious battle with Sony-backed Blu-ray, said at the time that it had no interest in entering the BD market.

It did, however, leave open the door to possibly revisiting HD packaged media.

“The real mass-market opportunity for high-definition content remains untapped, and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality,” Nishida said at the time.

Toshiba reportedly is interested in BD recorders and has focused on flash memory and upgraded standard DVD players since the end of the format war. The company lost a record $3.6 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31.