News from Reuters about the possible delay of next generation HD DVD players until the beginning of 2006.
"TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp.said on Thursday it may delay the year-end launch of its next-generation HD DVD players, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market.
The company added, however, any change in the launch schedule would be intended to maximise potential demand for the new products and that Toshiba remains committed to the HD DVD format as the next-generation DVD technology.
Toshiba has said it planned to launch HD DVD players in the fourth quarter of 2005 in Japan and the United States, while Sony plans to put a Blu-ray disc drive in its new PlayStation game console next year.
"We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch," a Toshiba spokeswoman said.
"We originally aimed for the year-end launch in the United States. But we have not really decided on that."
There is also a possibility that the products' launch in Japan may not come until after December, the spokeswoman said."
Now a couple of months delay can be classed as a slight teething problem and we should be happy that no players will be introduced until they are ready and fit for consumers but it does push the two camps closer together on the implitation of their formats. The HD DVD camp did hold a slender advantage in their player release dates . In yet another twist, who will be the winners?
Thursday 1st at 12:41 
Thursday 1st at 12:41 
