Toshiba becomes European market-lead for HD DVD Players

New research by GFK Group identifies Toshiba Corp as the European market leader for standalone high definition DVD players.

The European HD DVD Promotion Group has announced that Toshiba holds a 71 percent market share in retail sales in six European countries.

The figure covers the period from January 2006 to May 2007. It includes players sold to consumers through retail stores in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Toshiba also sells its products in a further 23 European countries which were not included in the survey.

The figures also show that sales of Toshiba’s HD-E1 player grew by 72% in May.

The news gives a boost to the HD DVD format, which is supported by Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp and NEC Corp.

Sony Corp’s rival Blu-ray high-definition format is backed by Samsung Group and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.