Without reading the articles...I would assume that that big loss is due to write offs / shutting down operations / etc., and not an actual indication of their earning power?

Submitter: Toshiba posts a 95% quarterly loss.

TFA: Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said its profit plummeted 95 percent

One of these things is not like the other.

In Japan, Toshiba said its profit fell to 1.25 billion yen ($12 million) in the January-March quarter from 26.17 billion yen a year earlier.

Toshiba didn't take a loss. They still turned a profit, just a much smaller profit than before.

Doc_Daneeka beat me to it.

Toshiba is struggling for business direction. Once they find one and dominate a niche, they will return to being exceedingly profitable, as opposed to mildly so.

What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

Blu Ray is like watching porn

Arbitrator: Doc_Daneeka beat me to it.

Toshiba is struggling for business direction. Once they find one and dominate a niche, they will return to being exceedingly profitable, as opposed to mildly so.

What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

Sony had less to gain from winning it than Toshiba did. Toshiba dominated the HD-DVD spec, Sony was one of many. Sure, they're going to make plenty of money off it, but they have to share with other companies. Toshiba went in on an all or nothing bet and lost. Besides, Sony has far more going on than just their consumer electronics business, of which Blu-ray is only a part.

Hopefully this will serve as a warning to companies that instigate format wars. Pull this crap and you'll be out quite a bit. However, I doubt it will. They didn't lose near enough to make major multinational corporations take notice. Sure, it is more than they wanted to lose, but it isn't like they're going to go out of business.

If bluy-ray won why the fark isnt Cloverfield, CWW or their will be blood out for it?

The CEO of Sony said it best, any more victories like the last one (blu ray) and he'll be forced to sell the company.

Samsung HDTV.

Panasonic Blu-ray.

Will buy Toshiba when they get in the game.

Arbitrator: What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

In other news, HD-DVD supporters still aren't over the whole losing thing, and are still making weal, desperate jabs at Sony, who they say is evil and mean and is so totally the only company behind Blu-ray.

Dr.Robotnik: Arbitrator: What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

In other news, HD-DVD supporters still aren't over the whole losing thing, and are still making weal, desperate jabs at Sony, who they say is evil and mean and is so totally the only company behind Blu-ray.

HAHA typo!

does buying a 360 hd-dvd player after blu-ray won make me a supporter of hd-dvd?

because to me, the most obnoxious thing about sony winning is the prices of blu-ray being much more than standard dvd. while i can understand that the production is higher, and they can milk it for profit at higher prices, it vexes me to think how long i'm going to have to wait before i can justify splurging on BR disks

I think for the first time ever, this format war benefited the early adopter.

Before it ended, there were sales every week. Amazon had weekly buy one/ two get one for both. I was able to pick up about 50 movies in HD for approximately 17 bucks a piece, which wasn't all that more than most brick and mortar stores charge for new release SD DVDs.

Now that the war is over, I can't find a decent Blu-ray sale anywhere. The few places that still carry HD-DVD think $15 to $25 is going to clear out stock.

People getting into HD discs right now are getting raped.

So, Toshiba had to eat the cost of being on the losing side of the HD format war, but they're STILL turning a profit?

Damn. I'm impressed.

I don't really give a fark about HD-DVD but Toshiba SUCKS BALLS. The $2000 tablet laptop my girlfriend was required to get for medical school is the biggest slab of shiat I have EVER encountered.

She was also required to get extended warranties and shiat as well, and when we mailed it in to the shop, they pretty much sent it back reformatted and said in the notes "the HDD was noisy and has been replaced."

BTW it still worked like a slab of shiat afterward. It has 2GB of RAM and slows down/freezes loading up the simplest shiat. Firefox or Onenote alone can crash it.

Toshiba/Samsung products are generally strides better than sony anyway.(except that dvd drive I bought a couple months back.) I think they'll be fine. I'll just buy a combo bluray/hddvd when prices come down a bit.

Sony's products since 1990 have generally been piles of garbage for my family. Pre-1990, they were terrific. Now, not so much. Samsung works for me.

Toshiba, meh. They're OK, but I'd never buy them.

Samsung's monitors are damn good though.

ChEv3lle: I think for the first time ever, this format war benefited the early adopter.

Before it ended, there were sales every week. Amazon had weekly buy one/ two get one for both. I was able to pick up about 50 movies in HD for approximately 17 bucks a piece, which wasn't all that more than most brick and mortar stores charge for new release SD DVDs.

Now that the war is over, I can't find a decent Blu-ray sale anywhere. The few places that still carry HD-DVD think $15 to $25 is going to clear out stock.

People getting into HD discs right now are getting raped.

This week Best Buy has a few deals, with the Fugitive and The Dream is Alive for $15 each, and 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Troy and the Departed for $20 each. I've seen a few older movies for around $19 a piece at Costco as well, so the price is coming down a bit. I honestly don't think prices are all that bad for it being only the second year of the format. I remember paying $400 for my first DVD player and $30 for my copy of Fight Club back in 2000.

akula: Arbitrator: Doc_Daneeka beat me to it.

Toshiba is struggling for business direction. Once they find one and dominate a niche, they will return to being exceedingly profitable, as opposed to mildly so.

What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

Sony had less to gain from winning it than Toshiba did. Toshiba dominated the HD-DVD spec, Sony was one of many. Sure, they're going to make plenty of money off it, but they have to share with other companies. Toshiba went in on an all or nothing bet and lost. Besides, Sony has far more going on than just their consumer electronics business, of which Blu-ray is only a part.

Hopefully this will serve as a warning to companies that instigate format wars. Pull this crap and you'll be out quite a bit. However, I doubt it will. They didn't lose near enough to make major multinational corporations take notice. Sure, it is more than they wanted to lose, but it isn't like they're going to go out of business.

well true and false about little for sony to gain. sony's gain is that the ps3 is still in it. br is the main selling point.

and yes sony is not the only company behind br, but they are the main driving force like toshiba for hd.

format wars are not pretty and costly for either side. the only upside of this is that the machines can still be used after the primary media is discontinued. and there are almost 400 titles released with hd dvd.

Another vote for Samsung. Their LCDs are second to none, and their cell phones are durable as hell (though their functionality can be lacking, pressing buttons on the m510's flat keypad is a pain in the arse).

People who gripe that Blu-Ray costs more than DVD should be aware that Laserdisc cost a lot more than VHS, throughout the life of the format ... $40 to $70 for most films, and well over $100 (sometimes over $200) for boxed sets.

The Laserdisc format was aimed at home-theatre/movie geeks, and tech-heads ... the same people to whom Blu-Ray is currently (primarily) being sold. BD can't become a "mass consumer" format like DVD until more of the "masses" have HDTV's, anyway.

If/when Blu-Ray releases can start catching up to DVD in release schedules (BD is currently at less than 10 new titles per-week, versus DVD at nearly 100) ... we might see BD prices coming down to parity with DVD.

Personally, I think a lot of retailers "missed" the Laserdisc/VHS pricing model, and are kind of glad to have it back, if only for a while.

HaywoodJablonski: Blu Ray is like watching porn

And DOWN the stretch they come. The Winner is...HaywoodJablonski

submitter: Toshiba posts a 95% quarterly loss. Blu-Ray can't hear you over the sound of how awesome it is overwhelming consumer indifference.


FTFY

Arbitrator: Doc_Daneeka beat me to it.

Toshiba is struggling for business direction. Once they find one and dominate a niche, they will return to being exceedingly profitable, as opposed to mildly so.

What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

I'll be laughing when Toshiba introduces a blu-ray player and sells it for 50% of what Sony does and Sony still ends up 'losing' the format war.

Dr.Robotnik: Arbitrator: What strikes me as funny is that Sony 'won' the Blu-Ray war, yet its stock is still meh.

In other news, HD-DVD supporters still aren't over the whole losing thing, and are still making weal, desperate jabs at Sony, who they say is evil and mean and is so totally the only company behind Blu-ray.

Or maybe people don't want to shell out $300 (during a recession, mind you) for the latest toy that no one really needs in the first place. And replace their entire video library, to boot.

Nah. It must be a conspiracy against Sony!

akula: Sony had less to gain from winning it than Toshiba did. Toshiba dominated the HD-DVD spec, Sony was one of many. Sure, they're going to make plenty of money off it, but they have to share with other companies. Toshiba went in on an all or nothing bet and lost. Besides, Sony has far more going on than just their consumer electronics business, of which Blu-ray is only a part.

You're right; the profits will certainly be divided. However, I think Sony has missed the boat on some of the latest consumer gadget trends (PSP didn't really take off, they're not a major player in the LCD or camera markets, and they don't dominate the phone industry either). The PS3 is their chance to make a niche for themselves, and Blu-Ray helps secure that foothold. I'm just surprised it hasn't led to more investor confidence.

Dr. Robotnik: In other news, HD-DVD supporters still aren't over the whole losing thing, and are still making weal, desperate jabs at Sony, who they say is evil and mean and is so totally the only company behind Blu-ray.

Way to strawman what I was talking about.

I'm not invested in the HD-format war or next-gen console war. I don't care who 'wins.' I do, however, own Sony stock (on my assumption that Blu-Ray would be the next adopted standard). So I do care that the stock is not shooting up, but it is not a jab based on any loyalty to Toshiba. Go be an obnoxious fanboy somewhere else.

Electrify: Another vote for Samsung. Their LCDs are second to none, and their cell phones are durable as hell (though their functionality can be lacking, pressing buttons on the m510's flat keypad is a pain in the arse).

Thirded. My previous cell phone was a Samsung that annoyed the piss out of me (it had a volume control button on the side that would cause it to come out of silent mode spontaneously. It led to many a wonderful surprise in meetings and classes). My new one is also a Samsung, but it's a slider and it's MUCH better.

I've owned a Samsung SyncMaster 710N LCD for 4 years now and I think it's great. No dead pixels that I can see.

Sony has announced a partnership with Samsung to focus on LCDs. I think this is great news for both of them.

I've owned Sony, Samsung & Panasonic TVs, VCRs & DVD players. IMO Toshiba beats them all in quality over the life of the product. I still have my first DVD player; a 10yr old Toshiba SD-3108 that still works as good as the day I bought it. All my TVs are Toshiba, and I've still got an old ('96?) Theaterview #TP50F60 TV that works great.

The Sony hype is like the Mercedes hype, you're paying a lot for a name. Not saying they're low quality, but for my money, a little research goes a long way.

alt.binaries.movies.hdtv

720p and 1080p blue ray and hdtv rips

more than you could ever watch.. yet another format thats been broken wide open, when will the supporters of drm ever learn, anything that can be read, can be copied.


Fools and their billions will soon be parted.

Plain DVD won the war. Sorry, guys, apparently the general public didn't give a damn about a next-gen video format, feeling (as I always have) that plain DVD is good enough.

Better luck whenever Sony and some other large companies get greedy enough in a few years down the road and try to start this crap again.

DoktorSeven: Plain DVD won the war. Sorry, guys, apparently the general public didn't give a damn about a next-gen video format, feeling (as I always have) that plain DVD is good enough.

Better luck whenever Sony and some other large companies get greedy enough in a few years down the road and try to start this crap again.

LOL. Sony would deserve to lose if they quit right now. Regular DVD didn't start catching on until a few years after it's release either, and that was a marginally better economy.

Own a 42" or larger HDTV? Try a blue movie, choosing one that you have on DVD, and you'll not go back. I used to think the same as you until a friend invited me over for dinner. Later on all of us were mocking the DVD vs the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie.

/bought a PS3
//great movie player
///good game console
////DVD sucks compared to Hi-Def

This week Best Buy has a few deals, with the Fugitive and The Dream is Alive

The Dream is Alive is still alive, and in HD? The awesomeness is deafening.

soj4life: and yes sony is not the only company behind br, but they are the main driving force like toshiba for hd.

Incorrect. Toshiba owned the entire HD-DVD spec. Sony does NOT own the entire Blu-Ray spec. Panasonic owns some important BR patents, and I imagine Pioneer might well own a few as well. From the very beginning, Blu-Ray was a far more democratic spec. HD-DVD has been ruled over by Toshiba from its inception.

Sony had much to gain, but so did others. Everybody focuses on Sony, and they never bother to see just who sits on the managing board of the BR consortium (not just members, but the governing board- it isn't just Sony).

inglixthemad: DoktorSeven: Plain DVD won the war. Sorry, guys, apparently the general public didn't give a damn about a next-gen video format, feeling (as I always have) that plain DVD is good enough.

Better luck whenever Sony and some other large companies get greedy enough in a few years down the road and try to start this crap again.

LOL. Sony would deserve to lose if they quit right now. Regular DVD didn't start catching on until a few years after it's release either, and that was a marginally better economy.

Own a 42" or larger HDTV? Try a blue movie, choosing one that you have on DVD, and you'll not go back. I used to think the same as you until a friend invited me over for dinner. Later on all of us were mocking the DVD vs the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie.

/bought a PS3
//great movie player
///good game console
////DVD sucks compared to Hi-Def

I have a blu-ray play (ps3 as well) and I still think DVD is good enough. The movies just aren't worth the extra 15$ to buy them. Yes, they look better but it isn't worth the investment in hardward plus software premium.

Well, I don't have an HDTV (and won't get one, period), but everyone I know that has one (yes, 42" and higher, one with 50") can't tell any difference with a plain DVD and any "HD" format, unless you're right there next to the screen, which isn't viewing distance anyway.

It's not worth converting to any new format. Hell, it hasn't been that long since plain DVD finally took over, you think people that have only been getting DVDs for a few years are going to be happy about switching to yet another new format?

Not going to happen.

The problem with Blu-Ray is that you need to buy a HD TV to appreciate it. All the people banging on about how DVD took a few years to take off are ignoring the fact that anybody with a TV could buy a DVD player and plug it in at the time of it's release and enjoy improved picture. You weren't required to spend a few thousand dollars to buy a new TV in order to appreciate the difference. The vast majority of consumers still don't have HD TVs.

The other problem is relatively minor. Some of the BD titles, while claming to be in 1080i/p, still look like crap. We had a BD player (running through HDMI) and a DVD player plugged into the same TV (a Bravia 46") playing the same film (one on BD, one on DVD). There was no difference. They both looked like a DVD playing in Standard Def. It was rubbish. It was a new movie too. I wonder how many titles are like that? I wouldn't pay more than $5 for the quality that we saw. It was awful.

akula: soj4life: and yes sony is not the only company behind br, but they are the main driving force like toshiba for hd.

Incorrect. Toshiba owned the entire HD-DVD spec. Sony does NOT own the entire Blu-Ray spec. Panasonic owns some important BR patents, and I imagine Pioneer might well own a few as well. From the very beginning, Blu-Ray was a far more democratic spec. HD-DVD has been ruled over by Toshiba from its inception.

Sony had much to gain, but so did others. Everybody focuses on Sony, and they never bother to see just who sits on the managing board of the BR consortium (not just members, but the governing board- it isn't just Sony).

sony is the most important hardware supplier, it is putting out the most players. the other larger members of the governing board are the studios. if the ps3 didn't have a BR player, the format would still be going on. sony is and will be the major force behind BR.

Carth: I have a blu-ray play (ps3 as well) and I still think DVD is good enough. The movies just aren't worth the extra 15$ to buy them. Yes, they look better but it isn't worth the investment in hardward plus software premium.

That's great. You're a cheap date. Try to keep that. I, unfortunately, really enjoy enveloping realism in my AV stuff. I don't have thousand dollar power cords, but I do have a good deal invested in amplifiers and speakers and a TV, etc, and I really appreciate the additional fidelity you get, both picture wise and audio wise.

I'm sure it is overkill, but it is demonstrably better, if you have the setup that can maximize it. If you're watching on a 37' SD tube with the audio through a out-of-the-box surround system, you're probably correct that adding the Blu-Ray player isn't going to do much.