Toshiba confirms HD DVD is dead

Posted on 19 Feb 2008 at 09:48

Toshiba has confirmed what everyone else had already accepted: HD DVD is dead.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer has announced that it is stopping production of HD DVD players. Without its principle backer, HD DVD is now destined to join the likes of Betamax on the technology scrap heap.

Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida said that the decision would allow the company to focus on other products.

"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."

He conceded that Warner Bros' decision in January to drop HD DVD and release exclusively on the rival Blu-ray high-definition format had been the tipping point. At that stage HD DVD sales had been overtaken by Blu-ray, and the momentum seemed to be with the Sony format which had the backing of a majority of Hollywood studios.

Toshiba will ship HD DVD players until March, though it be it difficult to find retailers who will take them off their hands. Thereafter it will contnue to support the etimated one million people who have bought a player.

Author: Simon Aughton

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