Toshiba delays HD-DVD recorder launch

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Toshiba's hotly-awaited first HD-DVD recorder has had its launch date put back again, this time to " late July".

The world's first high-definition optical disc recorder, the RD-A1, was due to go on sale in Japan on 14 July, but it seems that there aren't enough recorders to go round.

Toshiba blames the slow delivery of components, leading to a smaller than expected supply of the machines.

However the electronics giant has not encountered any long-lasting problems such as software bugs or production glitches, according to a Reuters report.

Toshiba, Japan's second largest electronics firm after Hitachi, announced the 14 July launch date last month, but has now given a revised date of 27 July.

The company has not said when the RD-A1 will go on sale outside Japan. However, Toshiba hopes to show its HD-DVD products at the IFA trade show in Berlin in September.
Meanwhile Toshiba's main rival in the high-definition DVD format wars, Sony's Blu-ray, faces an even longer wait.

Blu-ray backer Pioneer had hoped to launch its players at IFA, but now expects the European launch to take place at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.