Matsushita insists Toshiba yield on DVD format
Negotiations on universal format appear to hit snag
Updated: 9:48 a.m. ET May 19, 2005
TOKYO - The president of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. said on Thursday it is up to Toshiba Corp. to yield its position in talks on a unified format for next-generation DVD technology, making clear that Matsushita and its partner Sony Corp. won’t budge.
The comments by Kunio Nakamura are the latest sign that negotiations between officials from Toshiba, which backs a new DVD technology called HD-DVD, and Sony and Matsushita, supporters of a rival format known as Blu-ray, have hit a snag.
The two sides began meeting earlier this year, aiming to avoid a prolonged battle over the format that could discourage consumers from shifting to advanced discs and stifle the industry’s growth.
But both camps are also loath to establish a format based on the other group’s disc structure as they have spent years and enormous amounts of money to develop their respective standards in the hope the industry would adopt them.
At stake is pole position in the multibillion dollar markets for DVD players, PC drives and optical discs.
“The talks continue, they have not collapsed,” Nakamura told a group of reporters at a get-together of industry executives in Tokyo. “But Matsushita and Sony have not changed their stance. We are waiting for Toshiba’s decision.”
Both camps have waged aggressive public relations campaigns over the past several months, trying to woo undecided high-tech manufacturers and Hollywood film studios, whose support will be vital to either format’s success.
The Blu-ray camp emphasizes the high recording capacity of its discs while HD-DVD promoters says its format would mean a less costly transition for the industry because it is very close to the structure of current discs.
At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than the red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition movies and television.
Blu-ray discs have a memory layer only 0.1 mm from the surface while HD-DVD discs write data on a layer 0.6 mm from the surface, the same depth as the current generation of DVDs.
“There is still a chance to create a new format, but we will not waver on the 0.1 mm point,” Nakamura said. “I call on them to bring up issues other than 0.1. Let’s talk about that.”
With companies from both camps gearing up to launch products compatible with their respective formats, the window of opportunity is closing fast.
Toshiba has unveiled plans to launch HD DVD players in the last quarter of 2005 while Sony announced plans this week to introduce its new PlayStation video game console in spring 2006 equipped with a Blu-ray disc drive.
“There is no time. If we can’t reach a compromise then (unification) itself will become more and more difficult,” Nakamura said.
Nakamura denied media reports that he would meet with the heads of Sony and Toshiba in the near future to try to break the deadlock. A source close to the matter told Reuters the high-level meeting would take place as early as this week.
“I have not and will not meet (with them),” he said.
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This new technology has a wide ranging application, including possibly replacing the audio CD's. I really hope Toshiba relents with this; they couldn't even build a decent DVD player utilizing current tech. for the longest while!
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