Toshiba is expected to announce the release of cheaper HD DVD players at CES next week in Las Vegas. Yoshihide Fujii said recently:

 "At first I thought the price threshold is $499. Maybe coming next is $399 and after that is $299."

This leads speculation that lower prices will be announced at CES. Currently Toshiba players like the HD-A2 can be purchased at $399. Once prices go down to $299 we should see a larger demand by consumers.