It's been a few weeks now since HD DVD's demise after Toshiba withdrew its support. Withdrawing was a considerable blow to the company, who invested a lot in the format. But now that the smoke has settled, what's next for Toshiba?
From the sounds of it, Toshiba might not have anything to worry about. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Toshiba's Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida talks about the breakup and life after HD DVD.
Nishida explains that they've considered leaving HD DVD ever since Warner announced its plans to go Blu-ray. However, they took some time to reach a final decision, taking the "watch and wait" strategy until they were sure they were making the right call.
Now that they pulled out and their tech will soon lack support for a high-def format, are they worried? Doesn't sound like it. Nishida remarks that: "It was just one avenue of growth. It was one of 45 strategic business units that we have. This just means we now have 44."
Nishida explains that the company will now focus on their PC line and their DVD tech. This is probably a good strategy, seeing as DVD is still more popular than Blu-ray, which will take some time before the market can fully absorb it.
Toshiba will also have strategies in the video-downloading market, seeing as their format for a physical storage medium is now a dying format. Near the end of the interview, Nishida gives this statement, a maxim that has withstood the test of time:
If you don't take risks, you make no progress. Situations change constantly, so if we can't change with them, then there's no future for us.
