Toshiba sent out a press release this morning, announcing that they will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and
recorders. The company will begin reducing shipments of its players and recorders immediately and is aiming to pull out of the retail
market altogether by the end of March 2008.
Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review
of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This
decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and
after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable
price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer
electronics and IT will continue to progress.
“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called
'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President
and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market
opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and
intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”
So there you have it. The format war is officially over. I
would expect to see announcements from Universal and Paramount later this week. If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press
release can be found here.
