Toshiba President Hints at Supporting Blu-ray

At the annual shareholder meeting of Toshiba Corporation today, outgoing president Atsutoshi Nishida did not rule out the possibility of selling Blu-ray products. In a new pragmatic vein, Nishida said: "It makes no sense to decide not to enter the Blu-Ray market simply because we lost the DVD-format war. We cannot change the fact that we lost, but we would like to keep our options open."

Nishida said that BD recorders, in particular, appear to be a viable option. They are quite successful in Japan.

When Toshiba conceded defeat in the format war in February 2008, it said that it would not make any Blu-ray products and has reaffirmed that position several times since. But Nishida's latest remark appears to indicate that Toshiba is considering reversing that decision in light of the significant growth in the market for these products.

Nishida is to step down as President today. As expected, the shareholders approved the appointment of Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Norio Sasaki as the new chief executive.