Media Reports Toshiba Gives up

[Maaz]

Everyone, let's get together. This is (hopefully) going to be the last HD DVD/Blu-ray news you'll ever read (we're saving one post for when Microsoft joins the Blu-ray camp). After the obvious death bells were ringing, Toshiba has finally called it quits. Although HD DVD players will still be sold in stores for now, Toshiba will abandon all new production of players. Most likely, they will be quick to create a Blu-ray player of their own.

According to Reuters, "Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business."

That's what happens in a high-risk all-or-nothing format war. Sony must feel pretty good right about now, especially after historic defeats with Betamax, ATRAC, UMD, and more. Blu-ray in PS3 was a risky gamble: it created a price point that many mocked, and generated a good amount of negative publicity for the Japanese electronics giant. However, it was also the Trojan Horse that allowed it to gain such a large percentage of the HD-aware mindset. With this victory, it appears that Sony's plans are finally coming together.


Source: http://www.ps3fanboy.com

[Blu Titan]

Thanks for the news.

[iNCREDiPiNOY]

Ahem... use search function please.

[Maaz]

sorry lol i got excited.

[Marcusarilius]

Originally Posted by Maaz

sorry lol i got excited.

In this case, even old news (one day) is good news!!!

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

In this case, even old news (one day) is good news!!!

+1. reason to celebrate... but please, OP, use the search function. there might be over 10 threads created with the same topic.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Maaz

According to Reuters, "Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business."

I can "expect" anything, DID IT HAPPEN YET???

[NockNock]

interesting... eh ?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,14...a/article.html

Toshiba Halts HD DVD Production, Mulls Future
An announcement about Toshiba's HD DVD players and recorders is due next week, says Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

has halted production of HD DVD players and recorders and is close to making a decision on whether to throw in the towel on the high-definition movie disc format, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday evening.

The decision, which NHK said will likely cost the company several tens of billions of dollars, is being made in the face of flagging support by movie studios and major U.S. retailers.

"We are making considerations following the impact on sales of Warner's announcement but we haven't made any decision," said Keisuke Ohmori, a spokesman for Toshiba, when reached on Saturday evening. He was referring to the January decision by Warner Bros to stop issuing movies on HD DVD and go solely with Blu-ray Disc.

Other local media reports on Saturday said an official announcement from Toshiba is likely in the coming week.

HD DVD has been battling Blu-ray Disc for just under two years to become the defacto replacement for DVD for high-definition video. HD DVD is backed by Toshiba and a handful of other companies including Microsoft and Intel but Blu-ray Disc counted a larger number of consumer electronics heavy hitters. The main backer of the format is Sony and other supporters include Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung, LG and Philips.

Both formats delivered a similar audio and video quality and the main difference comes down to the movies available on each format. Most movie studios have taken one side or the other so consumers are left with a difficult decision. As a result many have walked away from stores with neither an HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc player and the market has performed poorly.

The Warner Bros decision in January has been seen by many as the beginning of the end for HD DVD. With Warner pulling out HD DVD only two of the major Hollywood studios, Paramount and Universal, are left backing the format.

In the weeks since the Warner announcement things have gotten worse for HD DVD. In the last week Netflix, an Internet-based movie rental company in the U.S., said it would cease supporting HD DVD and then on Friday Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the U.S., said it would stop selling HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.

[CAB]

While I can appreciate the enthusiasm, is it fair to say that this is "official"?

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

In this case, even old news (one day) is good news!!!

+1

[ClaytonMG]

Originally Posted by CAB

While I can appreciate the enthusiasm, is it fair to say that this is "official"?

+1 Grammar aside, I don't think we should label something as "Toshiba Gives up Official" until something official actually happens.

[cartman781]

Originally Posted by Maaz

Everyone, let's get together. This is (hopefully) going to be the last HD DVD/Blu-ray news you'll ever read (we're saving one post for when Microsoft joins the Blu-ray camp). After the obvious death bells were ringing, Toshiba has finally called it quits. Although HD DVD players will still be sold in stores for now, Toshiba will abandon all new production of players. Most likely, they will be quick to create a Blu-ray player of their own.

According to Reuters, "Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business."

That's what happens in a high-risk all-or-nothing format war. Sony must feel pretty good right about now, especially after historic defeats with Betamax, ATRAC, UMD, and more. Blu-ray in PS3 was a risky gamble: it created a price point that many mocked, and generated a good amount of negative publicity for the Japanese electronics giant. However, it was also the Trojan Horse that allowed it to gain such a large percentage of the HD-aware mindset. With this victory, it appears that Sony's plans are finally coming together.


Source: http://www.ps3fanboy.com

I like your source

[rigpig]

...it comes from 'Reuters' not 'ps3fanboy'. Reuters gives the news their news. It may as well be official given Reuters' stature in the news business & the lack of retraction from Toshiba. An 'official' statement ain't happening on a weekend anyways.

[sj001]

Yep, this does seem solid, the same news link though that has been traveling around all morning.

Very good news indeed, and about damn time!

[tru_to_blu]

They will be making Blu-ray players in no time.

[Blu-Byrd]

Saw a simlar thing on CNN this morning about Toshiba