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February 16, 2008 5:56 AM PST

R.I.P. HD DVD: Toshiba reportedly ends the war

Posted by Matthew Elliott
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We have a winner.

Well, that's it. Toshiba appears to be pulling the plug on HD DVD. Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan's NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

This news certainly doesn't come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD DVD's format war with rival Blu-ray. HD DVD had suffered a string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.

The NHK report says existing HD DVD products will remain on the market for a while, but Toshiba will stop further development of HD DVD. The report also estimates that Toshiba will take a hit to the tune of "hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars" and will close factories in northern Japan.

Elsewhere this weekend, Sony and its Blu-ray buddies are going to make like VHS and party like it's 1989.

Source | Via

UPDATE: Reuters now points to an unnamed company source who says, yep, we're done. An official announcement from Toshiba could come next week.

Matt Elliott, a CNET editor since 2000, heads up coverage of computer hardware, from desktops and laptops to their assorted components and peripherals. Prior to joining CNET, he worked for PC Magazine. When not writing about computers and wrestling with their shipping boxes, he likes shooting with his Nikon D50 camera. Matt is also skilled with a tape gun. E-mail Matt.
Topics:

Home video

Tags:

HD DVD,

Toshiba,

Blu-ray,

high-definition video,

format war

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 111 comments
Tail wagging the dog
by clarkru2827 February 16, 2008 6:41 AM PST
As an owner of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD high def disc players and discs, I am amazed at how retailers and the media have just fallen in line behind Blu-Ray, when this is clearly a situation of the tail wagging the dog, in stark contrast to what the consumer is actually saying, aand goes against the best interests of consumers, independent producers, and the industry as a whole. The headlines that you are not seeing are that the consumer is clearly choosing HD DVD over Blu-Ray as a platform, despite the fact that more Blu-Ray discs have been sold to date. According to NPD, http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6413168, 8% more HD DVD players were sold than Blu-Ray players over the course of April through December last year. Ah, but that was before Warner Brothers dropped support. Well, let?s look at live data on Amazon to see which players are selling the most: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/172514/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_e_1_2. Low and behold, the top 3 HD players are each outselling the top 3 Blu-Ray players. And that is as of today, after everyone has proclaimed that HD DVD is dead. How can this be? The reason is simple, and is the reason HD is clear choice for consumers, producers, and retailers since the beginning: price. HD DVD is based on the existing DVD technology, so manufacturing the drives and discs is cheaper. So, while Blu-Ray was able to gain a majority share of the disc sales by focusing on niche titles that catered to early adopters, HD DVD is catering to your average Joe, who has consistently chosen HD over Blu-Ray at the store, and with the latest drop in HD DVD player and disc prices is continuing to do so. So, why all the noise then from Blu-Ray supporters and headlines decrying that the end is near for HD DVD? Well, the Blu-Ray camp can extrapolate the trends into the future as well as anyone else, and see that once HD DVD reaches main stream adoption it will clearly have an advantage over Blu-Ray, so they are taking their lead in disc sales to claim the game is over despite the fact that consumer has been and continues to choose the HD DVD platform over the Blu-Ray platform when deciding which player to buy. So, it?s great that Blu-Ray early adopters have more money than HD DVD early adopters and have bought more discs as a result, but how is this good for your average consumer, independent producers, or even the market as a whole once high def discs become mainstream. Common sense tells you that if the lower cost alternative for discs and players becomes the standard, then that standard will be adopted more quickly, since people will be able to afford more players and discs. If that is the case, then even if HD DVD drops out of the picture completely, Blu-Ray will not be adopted as rapidly as HD DVD would have due to its price, which is not good for the industry as a whole or consumers. It also isn't good for independent movie producers who also prefer the lowest cost platform, because they are much more sensitive to margin due to their low volumes. So, given that HD DVD is the lower cost platform in terms of costs of discs and players, and given that consumers have been and are continuing to choose HD DVD over Blu-Ray as a platform choice, then why is everyone standing behind Blu-Ray? Those are good questions to ask Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and NetFlix, who surely wouldn't be putting alliances with Blu-Ray ahead of the consumer, would they?
Reply to this comment
clark, you are wrong
by learnedhand41 February 16, 2008 6:47 AM PST
...in so many ways.
Reply to this comment
A sad day....
by jbart610 February 16, 2008 7:42 AM PST
I own both the XBox360 HD-DVD add-on and the Blu-Ray BDP-S300. In my own experience, the usability of HD-DVD is far better than Blu-Ray. Picture quality is pretty much the same, but with discs that actually make use of the BD-Java capabilities it is totally atrocious that it takes 2-4 minutes of staring at a blank screen before the main menu pops up. At least HD-DVDs that make use of iHD have about the same responsiveness as standard DVD. Oh, and it doesn't crash. My S300 crashes on a regular basis with both Bluray and standard DVDs.
Reply to this comment
This was inevitable...
by macd9438 February 16, 2008 7:49 AM PST
...so why prolong it? Clark in the below post was just plain wrong. You can't just conveniently ignore the PS3 for your statistics to look impressive. It was hands down the best selling HD player, which blows a massive whole in your argument. If what you say is true that HD DVD players were outselling Blu players, it could likely be linked to the fact that the PS3 is the most affordable Blu player out right now, regardless of its other functionality. I'm glad this whole thing is over, and for those who wasted your money, you have my apologies. This format war certainly did not benefit the consumers, but if it truly is over then at least we can move in a positive direction from here.
Reply to this comment
I don't understand?
by joemin97 February 16, 2008 8:24 AM PST
What I don't understand is that everyone that has said that HDDVD has faster access time on their GUI compared to BluRay, Now I don't know about the Stand alone Blu Players but the PS3 has great speed for accessing the GUI on all the Blu Rays I own. I wonder sometimes if the people complaining about the time lag has even updated their Players yet because I know that even the Stand Alone Blu Players can be updated if a update is available. If not they should have done their home work and bought a PS3 instead and waited for a stand alone player like I am, You get a Internet Surfing, Photo, Video & Game machine all in one. Not to mention the Media Sharing with you pc.
Reply to this comment
Will the HD-DVD fanboys
by BCF1968 February 16, 2008 8:55 AM PST
please shut up now? It's OVER.

I suspect many will still say that it's not.
Reply to this comment
Good God, I'm Glad
by Ntfireballs February 16, 2008 9:25 AM PST
So I've had the PS3 for about 3 months, now, and all this news of BluRay becomeing the "Winner" is simply great news. I love my PS3, Blu-Ray is Great, and I'm glad, it's here to stay!
Reply to this comment
PS3 Stil Sucks
by rattlertech February 16, 2008 10:28 AM PST
What you so happy about they already said don't go buy Blue Ray cause this generation of them is already obsolete so the blue rays in your PS3 still sucks. Microsoft was smart by not building the damn player in the xbox. Unlike sony stupid a#%. They still losing money off the PS3 cause of that mistake.
Reply to this comment
PS3 can play bluray 2.0 disks
by johnwarsh February 16, 2008 10:33 AM PST
Rattlertech you are wrong. The PS3 can connect to the internet therefore you can update your playstation 3 to play 2.0 discs. The ps3 is immune to the generation problem.
Reply to this comment
stop complaining about ps3
by sonymaster101 February 16, 2008 11:03 AM PST
you xbox fans are just complaining because you have to spend money to get crappy hd playback from ur xboxs.
Reply to this comment
Too funny not to reply.
by Liquidx01 February 16, 2008 5:30 PM PST
How old are you? You're like the typical teenage gamer who only owns and supports Blu Ray because it came with the video game console your mommy bought you. If that was an HD DVD player inside, you'd be humping that too.

I own both formats, but hell if you teenage console fanboys leave a sour taste in my mouth.
View all 2 replies
Doesn't matter - encrypted media is a dead end
by CEB1970 February 16, 2008 11:12 AM PST
I don't want HD-DVD or Blueray. If I can't have complete control over how I use my media, then I don't want it. This whole competition is a joke considering that both options suck.
Reply to this comment
'Your' media???
by Meryl Arbing February 18, 2008 8:20 AM PST
If you take 'your' video camera and make 'your' own film and burn it to 'your' DVD as 'your' own work THEN it is YOUR media...to do with as you like. And I think you will find that there will be no encryption or any impediment to you (or anybody else) copying your work.

However, when you are talking about somebody else's work then it is NOT 'your' media and you can NOT do what you like!

When you have done the work; you have ownership; you have the rights. If you haven't done the work, you have no rights since you have no ownership. Buying (or renting) a disc oesn't make you the owner of anything but a piece of plastic...the work that is recorded on that plastic never does become 'yours'.
Oh joy...one HD disc format...whoopie...
by make_or_break February 16, 2008 11:16 AM PST
Not of fan of either, but it [i]is[/i] better that there's finally only one HD-disc format to hang your hat on...assuming of course HD downloads won't swamp Blu-ray as quickly as Toshiba whimpered 'uncle'.

Strange that I still don't feel all that compelled to go out and actually BUY a Blu-ray device, dedicated or PS3...must like hard drives too much, I guess...
Reply to this comment
A pyrrhic victory by Sony
by ebhaynz February 16, 2008 11:20 AM PST
Well, HD-DVD gave it a "good" try but eventually lost in a series of devastating blows by Netflix and Wal Mart at the end. Sony may have won this formart war but they lost in everything else. The Sony PS3 has been an unqualified failure! Sony has lost far more money on the PS3 alone than Toshiba lost on their entire HD-DVD project. Nintendo and Microsoft have placed Sony THIRD in the console market! SOny is supposed to RULE the console market but they got crushed by thinking adding the Blu-Ray to their overprice console would repeat their former PS2's success. It killed them! Heck, both Sony (and Microsoft) lose money on every console they sell. Although many Sony backers will say Sony will eventually make money on the PS3 this remains to be seen. The best Sony can possibly do in the next two years is become SECOND in the cosole market over the Xbox-360, and BOTH Microsoft and Sony lose money on every console they sell. One more thing, am I the only one who notices that Sony and Microsoft are steadily losing to stronger and stroger competition? Used to be they ruled in the perspective businesses, Sony TV's, game consoles, portable music players are no longer anywhere near the domination force they used to be. Microsoft is getting diluted by Apple, Google, Yahoo, poor Vista reviews, and much, much more. Not this is a total shock, they couldn't be #1 forever. Consumer electronics and computers are a very tough market to dominate for any period of time. Just my two cents...EricB
Reply to this comment
Sounds like...
by cometkohoutek February 16, 2008 1:17 PM PST
It sounds like someone bought a HD DVD player and he is now regretting it!
The Wii factor
by giannig February 18, 2008 10:57 AM PST
I am not trying to bash the Wii at all; but for next gen consoles, I tend not to include the Wii. You can't even get a true HD connection with it. The Wii is something that is very different and as a gamer I can see why it has gained a lot of interest from consumers.
The best format won
by bubblebathgirl February 16, 2008 12:48 PM PST
Blu-ray was always the better format, and it won.

The PS3 is the better gaming console, and it is already outselling the 360 in 2008.

The PS3 has done for Blu-ray what the PS2 did for DVD. As such, you will see the PS3 become the most popular gaming console in the world over the next couple of years.

I'm glad to see HD DVD die, it wasted 2 years of the world's time, and we're all better off without it.

Congrats Blu-ray!
Reply to this comment
playstation hor home theater don't think so
by WMJZ February 19, 2008 3:38 PM PST
you must be a gamer and not a home theater fanatic
Why not both?
by BuckeyeMiniMe February 16, 2008 2:03 PM PST
I don't understand why both formats can't co-exist. People waste millions on useless things like DVD movies; I doubt that having two different formats was going to cause any corporation to go bankrupt. It may have helped the consumer if the two were fighting for our business. What's next, HDTV thru DirecTV or Cable only? This is going to happen with XM and Sirius satellite radio as well and I'm interested to see the effects that these monopolies will cause.
Reply to this comment
This idiotic war is finally war thankfully
by RRosal February 16, 2008 2:40 PM PST
Rattlertech: Thanks for the insightful and thoughtful comments.
Reply to this comment
PS3 ALL THE WAY
by Neeber73 February 16, 2008 3:29 PM PST
Woo-hoo, good guys win! I love my PS3. I've used the WII, PS3 and Xbox and unless you're a 60+ or four years old (WII is for them) the PS3 is hands down the best console.
Reply to this comment
PS3 ALL THE WAY
by webterractive February 16, 2008 6:41 PM PST
Playstation 3 is an awsome Blu-ray player. But as for games its XBOX baby.
high def is for home theaters
by WMJZ February 19, 2008 3:40 PM PST
Love al these kids with Playstations
About Time
by sigsauer226 February 16, 2008 5:00 PM PST
As much as some of you complain about hd-dvd at least thier players were upgradable.(Not everyone wants a PS3). With blu-ray 2.0 movies will be coming out making earlier players obselete. I didn't care who won. Just a bunch of crap you still are going to have to wait or if you bought an earlier player have to shell out the bucks for a new one. This all about how to rob the consumers. And its pretty sad that the best blu-ray player out is a gaming console. Nothing against the PS3, I just prefer to play on my PC. I seen that Daewoo has a 2.0 player about to come out, think I'll pass, guess I'll still have to wait.
Reply to this comment
A Unified format Won in the End
by Starfires February 16, 2008 6:20 PM PST
now all we need is for the PS3 to sell like wildfire (unlikely given the competition it faces and the price) or for budget 2.0 Blue-ray players to stream out and the war will not just be over- it will be won!

I sense a real unfairness in that Blu-ray is even now learning to copy HD-DVD's original features and yet they are the 'winners'. But in this case, having larger disks makes a big difference for showing longer movies and reducing the ridiculous disk-swapping antics we've been used to over the years. surely we can agree that the upgraded Blu-ray with it's large disks will be the 'unified format' we wanted all along. Digital downloads will eat into the pie for sure, but their quality is no match for the pristine AV of Blu-Ray, something you can appreciate on a large HDTV. It's like comparing mp3s to CDs.

Now I want to be able to rent Bu-rays as a matter of course, so hurry up and get that 2.0 standardised and the aforementioned budget players on the streets.
Reply to this comment
Unified format won the battle only to lose the war
by webterractive February 16, 2008 6:38 PM PST
Blu-ray wont the HD DVD battle because of the superior DRM. But Blu-ray sales are no match for DVD. DVD with the weak DRM (40bit) will win and in a year or so we'll see Blu-ray rest in peace. At the end consumers make the winner not companies or in this case studios. I like HD DVD but I'm not going Blu-ray its back to DVD for me. But on the bright side I will be able to own all the cool HD DVDs I want at a low price.
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