War is over
19 Feb 2008 12:35
The high definition (HD) format war has ended with Blu-ray emerging victorious - as Toshiba has announced it is to end production of HD DVD.It has emerged that the manufacturer confirmed today what many had predicted for some time, citing "recent major changes in the market" for its decision to finally pull the plug on the ailing format.
According to a statement, Toshiba will reduce shipments of HD DVD players in a bid to close the business down by the end of March, SmartHouse News reports today.
Toshiba president and chief executive officer, Atsutoshi Nishida, said the firm had "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".
It is reported that Toshiba, who has a number of agreements with studios such as Paramount, Universal and DreamWorks, are still in the process of calculating the cost associated with winding down the system - which may yet continue to exist as a data storage solution.
Following declining sales, studio defections and suppliers - such as Woolworths and NetFlix - turning away from HD DVD, many predicted that 2008 would be the year that Blu-ray would win over the HD market.
©mangotango.co.uk
|