Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war
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Toshiba will stop making its HD DVDs, ending a battle with rival format Blu-ray over which would be the standard.
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The Toshiba Corporation is planning to give up on its HD DVD format, formally conceding defeat to the competing Blu-ray technology backed by Sony.
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Toshiba has halted production of HD DVD players and recorders, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday evening
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Toshiba announced it would stop producing HD DVD players, effectively surrendering the format war to Blu-ray.
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Promotion Group's numbers not so rosy either Toshiba has taken an axe to its HD DVD player sales forecast, despite claims from the HD DVD Promotion Group (PG) that the company's "latest promotional efforts are clearly resonating with consumers and showing that price is king when it comes to hardware".â¦
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Reports that Toshiba will halt production of its high-definition video format leaves analysts declaring Sony the victor.
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The decision by&#160;Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc&#160;for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?Since both formats launched they have been locked in a battle that pitted some of the industry&#39;s biggest consumer electronics companies against each other. Backing Blu-ray Disc has been Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while HD DVD&#39;s main supporters have been Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel.The battle also divided Hollywood and left consumers with a difficult choice: their favorite movies were likely split between the two formats and there was a risk the player they bought would become irrelevant. As a result consumers kept away from the formats and sales have been sluggish.Warner&#39;s decision will give Blu-ray Disc an advantage in terms of content. With the move, five of the big seven Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc with only two, Paramount and Universal, backing HD DVD.The Warner announcement certainly put the HD DVD Promotion Group&#39;s CES plans in disarray. Within hours of the announcement, the group cancelled its scheduled Sunday-evening news conference and subsequent media interviews at CES.&quot;They&#39;re definitely regrouping and considering their options at the moment, this could be extremely important,&quot; said Tom Coughlin, a storage analyst at Coughlin Associates. &quot;This could be the beginning of a major pivotal turning point in the high-def format war, which if we could define the format which is going to win would be extremely important for the industry because this would free up consumers to start making decisions on the purchase of their systems.&quot;Better sales would help consumer electronics manufacturers increase production and that would in turn lead to lower prices, said Coughlin. Those lower prices would then lead to better sales and that would help the entire industry, he said.Warner touched on the format battle&#39;s impact on the consumer electronics industry in a statement announcing its move.&quot;A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,&quot; said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner&#39;s home entertainment group in a statement.Whether or not the fight is really over remains to be seen.Toshiba said it was &quot;quite surprised&quot; by the announcement from Warner &quot;despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD.&quot;&quot;We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer,&quot; Toshiba said in a statement.For some, the Warner decision marks the end of the format battle.&quot;I think the war is over. HD DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors,&quot; said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group. &quot;The basic issue is not technology. It&#39;s about distribution, it&#39;s about marketing, it&#39;s about content and Blu-ray has been winning the content war for sometime. I don&#39;t know why [Toshiba] keeps pouring money into it, it&#39;s time to stop.&quot;Harris credited Sony&#39;s inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the PlayStation 3 with being one of the instrumental moves in winning the fight for Blu-ray Disc.&quot;I think Sony&#39;s brilliant move and one of the few they have made in this effort is putting Blu-ray into PS3,&quot; he said. &quot;Even though PS3 hasn&#39;t sold so well in the console wars, in terms of being a platform for Blu-ray distribution it&#39;s been a success for them and I think that&#39;s what really put Blu-ray over the top.&quot;The praise comes as Sony has finally started to see PlayStation 3 sales pick-up after a year of sluggish sales. Ironically the company has been often criticized by analysts and the media for the inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the device as that contributed to a high price that put many consumers off buying the high-def games console.&#160;
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Investors on Monday welcomed Toshiba's signals that it may abandon the HD DVD format, surrendering to rival Sony's Blu-ray in the battle to set the next standard of high-definition DVDs.
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Toshiba has abandoned the HD DVD high-definition video disc format, it announced Tuesday.
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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  , a company source said on Saturday.
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Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video.
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Warner move has stronger pull than Toshiba price cuts? This month hasn't just seen a relative decline in US HD DVD software sales - purchases of players appear to be down to, the latest figures from market watcher NPD suggest.â¦
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Japan's Toshiba Corp waved the white flag  in the home movie war, giving up on its HD DVD format after  losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray  technology backed by Sony Corp.
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Bringing next-gen DVD goodness into the Europe's living rooms Review While other manufacturers flap about trying to decide what format to back in the HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc war, Toshiba has been solidly behind HD DVD since the start. The HD-E1 is the first consumer-oriented standalone HD DVD player available in Europe, so you can now feed your HD telly something decent.â¦
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Japan&#39;s Toshiba Corp. (6502.T) has  lowered its sales target for high definition DVD players and  recorders on slower-than-expected unit sales in the U.S.,  putting a damper on Toshiba&#39;s prospects in one of its growth  businesses.
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Toshiba announced an aggressive campaign to bolster its HD DVD movie disc format against Sony-backed Blu-ray technology, cutting prices on players to as low as $149.99.
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In a sign the high-definition format war is far from over, Toshiba on Monday dropped the suggested retail price of its entry-level HD DVD player to under $150. That puts the HD-A3 $250 cheaper than Sony's PlayStation 3.