[opendtv] Re: Analyst predicts stalemate in next-gen DVD war
- From: John Golitsis <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:12:31 -0400
Have you shopped for a PC lately? A Dell Dimension E310 with 2.8GHz
P4, 80GB HD, 512MB RAM, CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, Windows XP Media Center
Edition, and even a 17" CRT display sells for $499!
On 26-Jun-06, at 11:56 AM, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> John Golitsis wrote:
>
>> So what pushes it's cost so high? They say it's basically
>> a PC architecture, and you can get a whole bunch of PC for
>> that amount of money, yet this lacks two of the most
>> expensive components - a hard drive, and Windows XP.
>
> It's a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 with 1 Gbyte of RAM. And more.
>
> Bert
>
> ---------------------------------------
> 'Teardown' finds Toshiba taking a loss on HD DVD player
>
> Dylan McGrath
> (06/23/2006 1:25 PM EDT)
> URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=3D189600999
>
> SAN FRANCISCO - Toshiba Corp. is taking a substantial loss on sales of
> its new HD DVD player in hopes of buying a head start in the battle
> for
> the next generation of DVD technology, according to a "teardown"
> analysis conducted by market research firm iSuppli Corp.
>
> According to iSuppli's teardown analysis, bill-of-materials (BOM)
> costs
> for Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD total an estimated $674, far exceeding the
> unit's $499 U.S. retail price. The estimated BOM figure excludes costs
> for manufacturing, testing, cables, remote control and packaging-costs
> that could easily push the total cost of each unit to more than $700,
> iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.) said.
>
> iSuppli's analysis suggests that Toshiba is subsidizing the HD-A1
> in an
> attempt to gain early market share over players that use the rival
> Blu-ray high-definition DVD standard, the firm said. Initial Blu-ray
> players, which are slated to cost $999 or more, are scheduled for
> launch
> by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Corp. and others this summer.
>
> iSuppli's analysis also revealed that, like many early models, the
> HD-A1
> does not have an especially efficient design, the firm said.
>
> "The Toshiba HD-A1 is basically a combination of a low-end PC and a
> high-end DVD player," said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services
> manager
> and senior analyst for iSuppli, in a statement.
>
> The HD-A1 utilizes a general-purpose microprocessor instead of more
> cost-effective application specific standard product (ASSP)
> semiconductors typically used in consumer-electronics products,
> iSuppli
> said. The HD-A1 also employs an Intel Corp. Pentium 4 as the main
> microprocessor, as well as Broadcom Corp.'s BCM7411 for high-
> definition
> video decoding and four ADSP-2126x SHARC programmable DSPs from Analog
> Devices Inc., according to iSuppli, which estimated that the total
> cost
> of these chips is $137.
>
> The HD-A1 also uses $125 worth of memory, including a 1-gigabyte dual
> inline memory module (DIMM)from Hynix Semiconductor Inc., three other
> types of DRAM, a 256-megabyte flash memory disk from M-Systems and 32
> megabytes of MirrorBit flash memory from Spansion, iSuppli said.
> Adding
> the memory chips bring the total cost of ICs used in the HD-A1 to
> roughly $247 per unit, according to the firm.
>
> "It's unusual to find this level of subsidization outside of the
> video-game console and mobile-phone markets," said Chris Crotty,
> iSuppli's senior analyst covering the consumer electronics segment.
> "Presumably, Toshiba anticipates making back any initial HD-A1 losses
> with subsequent products. There is little question that Toshiba had to
> use a high-cost design for its first model. But there is a big
> question
> as to whether pricing its player so much less than Blu-ray is worth
> the
> financial risk."
>
> Product reviews of the HD-A1 have been mixed, iSuppli said, and the
> unit
> lacks the full 1080-pixel resolution available in the competing Blu-
> ray
> models as well as in Toshiba's own $799 HD-XA1 version of the player.
>
> Unable to come to an agreement on a next-generation DVD standard last
> year, Toshiba and its rivals each moved ahead with their own competing
> technologies, creating a marketplace showdown in which consumers will
> ultimately decide which technology prevails. In pricing its product
> significantly below cost, Toshiba is apparently hoping to build a lead
> over its Blu-ray rivals, some of which have recently announced further
> product launch delays.
>
> Next-generation equipment is one of the few remaining growth
> segments in
> an otherwise peaking DVD market, which is facing increasing
> competition
> from alternative content-delivery mechanisms, including video-on-
> demand,
> Internet downloading and even Disney's resurrected MovieBeam service,
> according to iSuppli.
>
> iSuppli forecasts that factory shipments of all next generation DVD
> equipment-both HD-DVD and Blu-ray-will reach 65 million units in 2010,
> up from 1.6 million units in 2006. But unlike other industry experts,
> iSuppli's Crotty doesn't foresee a clear winner in the battle between
> HD-DVD and Blu-ray.
>
> "This is not a repeat of VHS vs. Beta," Crotty said. "The market
> dynamics are very different. The most likely outcome is stalemate,
> with
> the savvy manufacturers introducing dual-format players as early as
> the
> 2006 holiday season."
>
> All material on this site Copyright 2006 CMP Media LLC. All rights
> reserved.
>
>
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