Samsung Electronics Co, the first company scheduled to sell high-definition DVD players based on Sony Corp's technology, delayed the introduction of its Blu-ray machine, widening Toshiba Corp's head start in home entertainment's biggest format war in two decades.

Samsung postponed the debut of the player in the US by a month until June, said Ken Noh, a spokesman for the South Korea-based company, confirming a Reuters report. Noh said he couldn't immediately verify other details of the report, which said the player's debut was delayed until June 25 from May 23 because the product needs further testing.

The delay is the latest setback for Sony, which pushed back the introduction of its PlayStation 3 game console because of Blu-ray, in its bid to avoid losing the battle to set the standard format for home entertainment, as it did with Betamax against Video Home System tapes during the 1980s.

Toshiba, which is promoting the rival HD DVD format, began selling players based on its technology last week in Japan and plans to introduce it in the US this month. The company has the support of Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, and Intel Corp, the biggest chipmaker.

LG Electronics Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co are among companies that back both Toshiba and Sony. Samsung supports Sony.