HD-DVD Players drop to $399

Effective immediately, Toshiba has slashed the price of its HD-DVD players in the US.
The major HD-DVD manufacturer is dropping prices of its entire HD-DVD line of players, with the entry level HD-A2 reduced to $399 and the newly released HD-A20 model coming to market at $499.

This "strategic reduction" is an obvious response to Microsoft's decision not to include a built-in HD-DVD player in the Xbox 360 Elite. Microsoft's announcing that "Whatever format wins it is highly likely we will offer a solution"raised concerns that HD-DVD would lose the format war against Blu-ray.

HD-DVD supporters including Warner Bros, Paramount and Eagle Rock have welcomed the move."The spring is ramping up well for HD-DVD, with an incredible list of movies and the best priced hardware on the market", commented Ken Graffeo, executive VP of marketing at Universal Studios Home Entertainment.