Back in 2006, when the PS3 was getting ready to launch with a built-in Blu-ray DVD player for the high, high price of $600, many people (myself included) believed that it was a stupid move on Sony’s part, and that forcing people to choose a high-def DVD platform that may not even succeed could possibly destroy them. Well, we all know how that one turned out, with Blu-ray recently coming out victorious in the recent DVD format wars, and HD-DVD dying an early death.

For most people, this was a good thing, for now we could commit to Blu-ray without worrying about whether or not it was going to go the way of the Betamax. However, for Toshiba, who developed and marketed the HD-DVD player, things aren’t going so well. In fact, they’re set to lose almost a billion dollars (around $986 million, to be exact) over the dead format. Obviously, Toshiba’s profits for this year are predicted to fall short of expectations.



Not being a business expert myself, I can’t really say what this will mean for Toshiba. Perhaps they’ll be able to bounce back next year, and maybe they’ll manufacture their own Blu-ray players. Of course, this is all speculation at the moment. Only time will tell what the death of HD-DVD is really going to mean for Toshiba’s future.