Andre Yoskowitz
19 Jan 2008 17:14
Mirroring their decision to cut prices in the US, Toshiba has announced they will be cutting prices for their HD DVD players in the UK as well. The company also talked about new marketing initiatives it hoped to bring to the UK.
The company, along with other companies in the HD DVD camp, will push their player's DVD upscaling abilites more prominently now.
Additionally, the company released updated sales figures and said that over 200,000 standalone HD DVD players had been sold in Europe to date.
"According to the latest available independent research, Toshiba's accumulated share of the high definition standalone player market was close to 60% at the end of 2007," says Toshiba's press release. In the US the company claims a significantly lower 50 percent.
"While it's still early days for HD on optical disc, these results confirm HD DVD performed strongly throughout 2007", added Yoshio Abe, president of Consumer Products Europe for Toshiba.
"These new marketing investments coupled with our new recommended retail pricing, will ensure HD DVD remains at the forefront of the consumer's mind within Europe."
Masaaki Kimura, the VP of Toshiba's Digital A/V Group UK added more:
"While price is just one of many purchasing considerations for the early adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer."
"Sales this Christmas have demonstrated, once again, that consumer awareness of HD DVD has been elevated thanks to its close association with DVD and recent successful promotions. Pricing is - without doubt - the most critical determinant in a consumer's decision to purchase next generation high definition DVD technology. The value HD DVD brings to the consumer simply cannot be ignored."
The price cuts, effective today, drop the prices of Toshiba's HD-EP30 and HD-EP35 to £149 and £250 respectively.