Toshiba Refutes Sony's Claims of Blu-ray Stand-Alone Player Dominance

Well, that didn't take long. Toshiba this afternoon issued a tersely-worded response to claims made by Sony at a CEDIA press conference last night.

As we first reported earlier today, Sony VP Chris Fawcett was quoted as saying that stand-alone Blu-ray players had begun out-selling their HD DVD counterparts over the last 12 weeks.

Given the extent to which HD DVD backers had previously emphasized their own lead in this category, Sony's claims set off a minor firestorm across the web -- so much so, apparently, that Toshiba felt compelled to issue its own statement in response this afternoon.

The statement reads as follows:

"In light of recent comments made regarding high definition stand-alone video players sales, Toshiba would like to reiterate its continued industry leading sales figures. Based on July data from NPD, Toshiba had a 55% market share year to date in high definition stand alone player sales followed by all Blu-ray companies at a combined 42%; the final 3 percent is held by dual format players.

While the competition may claim leadership based on one month of data, Toshiba has had continued sales leadership in every month since the original HD DVD players launched 17 months ago.

Toshiba is and continues to be a top seller at retailers such as Amazon, most recently reaching #1 on the site last week. As third generation players begin to come to market at the end of this month, Toshiba has full confidence that it will continue its momentum and lead in player sales. Additional information HD DVD and Toshiba’s players can be found at https://www.toshibahddvd.com"

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