Sales of HD DVD Players Plunge After Warner Move
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What was a 50-50 market split in 2007 for the high-definition players shifted sharply in Blu-rayâs favor in the new year.
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The consumer electronics industry is abuzz ahead of this year's CES show with Friday's news that Warner Bros is dropping HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.
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Warner Bros., the only major movie studio to release titles on both of the rival high-definition video disc formats, has decided to drop HD DVD and exclusively back Blu-ray Disc, it said Friday.The move could prove decisive in determining which of the two formats becomes the de facto DVD replacement for high-definition content. Currently, both formats are battling to secure a lead, but neither has managed to obtain a meaningful market share due to consumer indifference as a consequence of the battle. As a result, the market for high-definition movies has seen its growth stunted, and companies like Warner have lost potential sales.Warner said the decision was made in part as a response to this situation.&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.The move comes on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off on Monday in Las Vegas, and is sure to light a fire under the HD DVD camp, which is chiefly backed by Toshiba and also includes Paramount, Universal, HBO Video, Microsoft, and Intel. The HD DVD Promotion Group has a previously scheduled news conference on Sunday, and the rival Blu-ray Disc group is scheduled to speak the following day.Companies from both sides of the format battle are expected to show their latest players and talk up their own formats during CES.Last year&#39;s CES saw the unveiling by Warner of a hybrid disc called Total HD. The disc attempted to break the format deadlock by offering one side compatible with HD DVD and the other side compatible with Blu-ray Disc. However, the disc never made it to market, and Warner gave up on the hybrid format later in 2007.
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According to a new market report from Understanding & Solutions, both Blu-ray and HD DVD player prices should decline significantly in early 2008.
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The entertainment industry publication Daily Variety is reporting this morning that Universal is preparing to gracefully back out of its commitment to the HD DVD format.
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Hollywood is hoping high-definition  DVDs will reignite a slowing market for movies at home, but  they have drawn mixed reviews from retailers and analysts due  to technical issues and a bitter format war.
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Toshiba Corp  said on Sunday  its HD DVD high-definition video format is not dead despite  being dealt a big setback by Warner Bros studio's decision to  exclusively back Sony Corp's  rival Blu-ray technology.
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The beginning of the end for the high def format Paramount Studios could soon drop its support of HD-DVD following Warner's recent backing of Sony's Blu-ray technology, effectively killing off HD-DVD and bring the Format War to a definitive end.â¦
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Active Archive Appliance Enterprise Edition drops DVD technology for Blu-ray support.
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Toshiba Corp said on Sunday its HD DVD high-definition video format is not dead despite being dealt a big setback by Warner Bros studio's decision to exclusively back Sony Corp's rival Blu-ray technology.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp. has slashed its  sales target for high definition DVD players and recorders  after disappointing sales in the U.S., putting a damper on  prospects for one of its growth businesses.
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Unphased by the recent string of bad news for HD DVD, the company has gone ahead with announcements for dual-format chips for combo players.
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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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The Japanese electronics giant threw in the towel on its HD DVD technology, announcing that it would no longer develop, produce or market disc players for the format.
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Blu-ray appears to have won the high-def DVD format war, as Paramount announced on Monday that it would dump HD-DVD in favor of Sony's Blu-ray format. Last week, Warner Bros. also threw its weight behind Blu-ray.
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The end of the high-definition disc war seems in sight, say industry observers, with major studio Warner Bros. jumping to the Blu-ray Disc camp and leaving the competing HD DVD format with a dwindling base of Hollywood support. But ahead lies the real uphill battle: selling high-definition discs - in any format - to consumers who appear more than satisfied with the DVDs they've already bought over the past few years.
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Despite the disappointing news this morning for over 1.3 million HD DVD customers, they have little to worry about. Here's why.