I think the fact is, whether this is concrete or not (being from "The Hollywood Reporter" I tend to believe it) this will most definitely be the death knell of HD-DVD regardless.
Once rumours of the death of the format start making the rounds, more than the normal "how can they continue with only 2 studios" remarks, what little consumer confidence that was left in the format will be completely eroded.
Think about it, if you were considering buying a PS3, and rumours started circulating everywhere that Sony was about to drop it and Sony didn't unequivocally state the rumours were falsehoods, would you plunk down your hard earned cash knowing you're likely going to end up with little more than a paper weight? Okay, bad analogy, the PS3 is much cooler than an HD-DVD player, but you get my point.
