Video Asylum

Posted by Duilawyer (A) on February 17, 2008 at 08:37:25

In Reply to: RE: Just heard that Toshiba will officially throw in the towel today* posted by jaiva on February 16, 2008 at 02:17:18

Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, end format war: source
Sunday February 17, 8:32 am ET
By Mayumi Negishi and Kentaro Hamada

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (Tokyo:6502.T - News) is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp (Tokyo:6758.T - News), a company source said on Saturday.

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The move will likely put an end to a battle that has gone on for several years between consortiums led by Toshiba and Sony vying to set the standard for the next-generation DVD and compatible video equipment.

The format war, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has confused consumers unsure of which DVD or player to buy, slowing the development what is expected to be a multibillion dollar high definition DVD industry.

Toshiba's cause has suffered several setbacks in recent weeks including Friday's announcement by U.S. retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - News) that it would abandon the HD DVD format and only stock its shelves with Blu-ray movies.

A source at Toshiba confirmed an earlier report by public broadcaster NHK that it was getting ready to pull the plug.

"We have entered the final stage of planning to ma