Over the weekend, reports began popping up in various news channels that Toshiba Corp is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp. It was reported that a source at Toshiba confirmed an earlier report by public broadcaster NHK that it was getting ready to pull the plug.
“We have entered the final stage of planning to make our exit from the next generation DVD business,” said the source, who asked not to be identified. He added that an official announcement could come as early as next week.
Just a few weeks ago, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. announced that they will release their high definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-Ray disc format beginning later this year. It will be no surprise if Toshiba is truly raising the white flag in surrender to the format war between its own HD DVD format and Sony’s Blu-Ray HD format. After all, 3 top retailers, Wal Mart, Best Buy and NetFlix, recently announced that they have plans to support the Blu-Ray format.
Is this the end for Toshiba’s HD DVD? Some skeptics are still hanging on to the notion that the format was is not over. Just as Paramount previously denied that it was dropping HD DVD, Toshiba announced this morning that, “The media [has] reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment.”
So, is this the nail in the coffin for Toshiba’s HD DVD format? With the recent Blu-Ray backing announcements from major movie studios and retailers, even if this is not the final blow, it will be extremely tough for Toshiba to fight back. My advice to all HD DVD player owners is to keep enjoying your HD movies. But know that by this time next year, if you wanted to watch a new release in HD, it will probably be under a Blu-Ray format.
How can they still back a format which is not getting the support of Hollywood or retail stores? It seems like a losing proposition to me. There had to be a loser and the losing company would lose a lot in the money already spent on their format. But why make your loses worse?
You are right. The only way Toshiba’s HD DVD can stay in the market place now is if it was part of a dual format player alongside the Blu-Ray format. That is not going to be a likely scenario. I think Toshiba has already thrown in the towel.
I feel sorry for all those who purchased an HD DVD player during the Christmas shopping season only to find out a few weeks later that Warner was backing Blu-Ray… literally putting the nail in the coffin for Toshiba.
This HD format war will surely exist in a few case studies proving that when consumers in the marketplace cannot decide, corporate can and will make the decision for them.
As of now, I believe HD-DVD is done. Toshiba announced it, and the production of those DVD’s will probably cease.
The long battle for format is finally over.
Dang.
Now, I’ll have to store my HD-DVD player on top of my betamax player in the basement.
Ceremonial Shovel, you really don’t need to retire your HD DVD player. It still plays all the HD DVD’s in yoru collection and regular DVD’s. In fact, it will upscale normal DVD’s to your HDTDV at 720p, 1080i or 1080p.
Forget HD-DVD, I’m way more pumped abou the Toshiba game machine supposedly going into development soon. An open source console would mean that third parties could easily integrate HD DVD or BluRay and leave it up to the consumer to decide which they prefer for movies, while still using the same machine for their living room gaming.
It looks like I am going to have to invest in a blue ray player! I am glad you brought this topic up and I found this post to be very informational! Thanks!
I also wanted to comment that I think it would be fantastic if there were dual formatted players. I believe that would help solve a lot of issues for consumers.
i think hd dvd is not the next gen for movie and games..i think blu ray is the answer
feel sorry for all those who purchased an HD DVD player during the Christmas shopping season only to find out a few weeks later that Warner was backing Blu-Ray… literally putting the nail in the coffin for Toshiba.
HD DVD is down, blu ray is up :))