Toshiba takes a page from video games...
cheddar
Posts: 2,390
For anyone who follows the video game industry, this sounds very familiar:
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/tc20060622_113255.htm
Toshiba, in order to beat blu-ray and bring the price down to earth is actually selling their units almost 30% below their COST. To make a profit, they would have to sell the A-1 at well over $700. Last time I checked, Toshiba wasn't in the movie ownership business. That's quite a risk when they can't even sell movies to recoup the cost. A hail mary by toshiba?
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/tc20060622_113255.htm
Toshiba, in order to beat blu-ray and bring the price down to earth is actually selling their units almost 30% below their COST. To make a profit, they would have to sell the A-1 at well over $700. Last time I checked, Toshiba wasn't in the movie ownership business. That's quite a risk when they can't even sell movies to recoup the cost. A hail mary by toshiba?
Post edited by cheddar on
Comments
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Just think of how awful it would be for them if blu-ray won the format war.
All that loss for nothing. I mean, they could probably just jump on the bandwagon, but at that point could they recover?Ghetto Rig
Power: HK AVR245.
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Source: PC. PS3. Xbox360.
Cables: BlueJeans. Monoprice. -
Probably not. I am gunnen for Blu-ray.Harman Kardon AVR635
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Furman RA-1210:rolleyes: -
Just seems like Toshiba's taking a big one for the team even if the movie studios with HD-DVD take an early lead with software sales. Microsoft loses far less on xbox and 360 consoles, yet they can make it up with $50 a pop game titles. And even then, the division lost almost $400 million dollars last fiscal year. So far the blu-ray players are holding firm on pricing with the Pioneer slated for an above $1000 price. Should be interesting to see what happens over the next year.
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The problem with the article is they assume market prices. The Tosh costs around $360-$380/unit at the prices Tosh would receive from the supliers.There is no genuine justice in any scheme of feeding and coddling the loafer whose only ponderable energies are devoted wholly to reproduction. Nine-tenths of the rights he bellows for are really privileges and he does nothing to deserve them. We not only acquired a vast population of morons, we have inculcated all morons, old or young, with the doctrine that the decent and industrious people of the country are bound to support them for all time.-Menkin
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iSuppli used discounted estimates for the xbox companion article:
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051122_410710.htm
I would think that the estimate for the Toshiba used a similar method. So I don't think these are retail prices. Businessweek isn't so careless. -
iSuppli sounds like a company that knows the difference between retail and volume discounted market prices:
http://www.isuppli.com/catalog/L2_prtr.asp -
Businessweek? Wouldn't be careless? Are you joking?
Also, no supplier in their right mind is going to let iSupply know the cost of components. They can give them the catalog wholesale prices, but no one pays those. In reality, the actual costs, especially of the P4 chip, were grossly exxagurated for that market in that article.
It makes no sense to "win the war" this way since they can not make up the $$$ on movie rights. They would lose less if they just switched to BD and end the format war than losing money on everyplayer out the door. Also, unlike M$, they don't have the cash on hand to do this. It would be a catastrophically stupid move on their part.There is no genuine justice in any scheme of feeding and coddling the loafer whose only ponderable energies are devoted wholly to reproduction. Nine-tenths of the rights he bellows for are really privileges and he does nothing to deserve them. We not only acquired a vast population of morons, we have inculcated all morons, old or young, with the doctrine that the decent and industrious people of the country are bound to support them for all time.-Menkin -
jdhdiggs wrote:Also, no supplier in their right mind is going to let iSupply know the cost of components. They can give them the catalog wholesale prices, but no one pays those. In reality, the actual costs, especially of the P4 chip, were grossly exxagurated for that market in that article.
I'm not saying that isuppli peeked into the actual BOM that Tosh used to make the thing. Just that they used estimates that took into account volume discounts and industry trends as they understand them. Your estimate assumed that Tosh could get everything for 50% off already volume discounted prices. That's an assumption too. I'd rather go with iSuppli as a ballpark figure that does show Tosh is willing to eat a loss in this war, stupid move or not...
These companies? Smart? Are you joking?
To start this war, these companies took a big gamble that one side would get really rich while ignoring the fact that one side will probably look catastrophically stupid in the end. :rolleyes: -
But if it works, it's a great deal for Toshiba since they'll recover all of that in software sales.
The best case scenario is that DVD-R and DVD+R scenario where combination drives are around and the consumer doesn't have to worry about which format is being used.
