Opinion: Could Toshiba feel a US$986 million from HD DVD loss?

According to various media sources, one of Japan’s largest online English-language newspapers, Nikkei Business Daily, stated that Toshiba will suffer a US$986 million loss for this business year.

Toshiba has tried to silence these claims by stating that “Toshiba has not yet made any announcement concerning figures from financial reports, incurred as a result of the discontinuation of its HD DVD business”.

In a statement to the press, Toshiba claimed it is still expecting to revise its forecast of business results for the Fiscal Year 2007, ending March 31, 2008.

“Toshiba is reviewing the impact from the discontinuation of the HD DVD business, along with the progress of its other business operations, and will announce revised business forecasts for FY2007 as soon as this process is completed, if necessary,” the vendor stated.

Once these figures are released, the full impact of the discontinuation on Toshiba’s business will be revealed.

While HD DVD was only one part of the vendor’s business, Toshiba might also be hurt by global price falls in microchips and liquid crystal displays.

Toshiba is known as the number two producer of NAND flash memory and may be affected by these price drops.

Whatever the outcome of its financial results, 2008 might provide some hard times for the hardware vendor as it struggles on numerous fronts against a volatile market.