Digital Home Thoughts: First HD-DVD Player Released in Japan

"Toshiba began selling the world's first HD-DVD player on Friday in Japan, moving the format battle between the world's largest consumer electronics makers from the floors of trade shows to retail stores. HD-DVD is backed by Toshiba, the DVD Forum, and companies including Microsoft and Intel, and is vying for supremacy with Blu-ray Disc, which is backed by Sony, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, and others, in the race to replace DVD for high-definition content. Toshiba's first player, the HD-XA1, is one of two models first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. It's scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. in April along with another player, but the Japan launch Friday marks the first time a dedicated player for either format has reached the market."

This happened last week, but I seemed to ignore my own news posting assignment, so here's the news for those of you that hadn't heard yet. The player will sell for the equivalent of $936 in Japan, and $800 USD in the US, along with a $500 USD version. What the article doesn't say is how well the DVD player sold in the first week - is there a pent-up demand for HD-DVD technology in Japan? That's what I'm most curious about, because if no one in Japan wants to buy this, it certainly is a strong indicator of what the European and North American markets will do.