Is Toshiba pulling out of the high-stakes high-definition format war?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Toshiba is preparing to pull the plug on its support of the HD-DVD format in the coming weeks, attributing the report to "reliable industry sources." We could see this day coming for several weeks now.

Following last month's jarring decision by Warner Bros to jump camp to the Sony-led Blu-ray format, Toshiba and its main development partner, Microsoft, were left with minimal studio support and little choice but to consider its options.

Toshiba officials have been trying to put a brave face on the situation, but with no access to 75 per cent of the new cinema releases, the format is all but sunk. Speaking to Hollywood Reporter, Toshiba acknowledges it has few options. "Given the market developments in the past month," Jodi Sally, VPof marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, told Hollywood Reporter, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."

Evidently, consumers have already given up on HD DVD. Quoting sales figures from NPD, in the week following the Warner Bros announcement, 93 per cent of all U.S. sales of high-definition players were Blu-Ray players. Toshiba responded by slashing prices and sales did rebound, but is still being outsold two-to-one.

Comments

[Andy Cooper]

This is great news for those of us who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for one of these formats to "win". However, I still won't ditch my standard DVD setup until I can get a cheap Blu-Ray player and cheap discs. Both are currently way overpriced. Be patient folks and don't fall for the ad hype that you really must have this new tech now. There's no rush - standard DVD still looks great. Check out Casino Royale for example. Wait a little longer and those prices will fall.