Toshiba is long overdue in getting Microsoft to include an internal DVD player in its Xbox 360, an idea whose time has come, according to Stan Beer at ITWire on Wednesday. In contrast, Sony has been able to exploit the Blu-ray player in the PS3 for its own advantage in the HD disc format war.

The problem is that Sony has suffered greatly in its war with the PS3 against the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox due to the PS3 higher price. Microsoft has a stake in that.

On the other hand, Sony is winning the Blu-ray war, so far, thanks to all those PS3 players in households. According to Reuters on Wednesday, for the first nine months of 2007, Blu-ray movie titles outsold HD DVD titles by 2.6 million to 1.4 million.

"Obviously Microsoft, which doesn’t have a stake in the HD DVD video business, wanted to get a head start on Sony. Another possible issue could have been price. An Xbox 360 with an onboard HD DVD player may have priced the early Xbox 360 consoles out of the market as Blu-ray did with the PS3," Mr. Beer noted.

One step that Toshiba could take is to somehow convince Micrsoft that the HD DVD player should be internal to the Xbox, rather than an optional add-on. "It must grate on the nerves of Toshiba executives," Mr. Beer said, "to know that, despite quality issues, Microsoft has sold more than 11 million Xbox 360 units worldwide, while Toshiba struggles to move more than a few hundred thousand standalone HD DVD players."

A year from now, Sony could have upwards of 15 million PS3s in the hands of consumers. Mr. Beer noted that an agreement by Microsoft to bundle an internal HD DVD player may be the only hope Toshiba has to make up that gap. "That would be a huge lead for Toshiba and Microsoft to make up, and the format war may well be over by then. Still, Toshiba has no option," Mr. Beer concluded.