Toshiba Corp. is considering abandoning its HD DVD format, it was learned Saturday. The move will probably result in the victory of Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s competing Blu-ray, in the high-definition DVD format war.
According to sources close to Toshiba, the firm will hold a board meeting in the near future to formally decide to abandon production of HD DVD recorders and players and other related accessories.
The past several years have witnessed rival groups of supporters of HD DVD and Blu-ray engaging in a fierce duel over the high-definition DVD market. Each side launched major campaigns to woo movie studios, retailers and ultimately consumers to their side.
Both the formats deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, but they are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players but the HD DVD format is comparatively cheaper and less technologically advanced compared to the Blu-ray format. So, only one format is expected to survive.
U.S. major film company Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. announced last month that it would only release movies in the Blu-ray format, meaning that four of the six major U.S. film studios are backing the Blu-ray format. This has hurt the HD DVD campaign badly.
Keisuke Oomori, a spokesman for Toshiba said, "Sales have been hurt since Warner's decision, and we are considering different options," though he said that nothing has been decided at this point.
In addition, the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has 4,000 outlets in the United States, announced on Friday, that it would stop selling HD DVD players and recorders.
This announcement came five days after Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD. Several major U.S. retailers have made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.
The two sides were neck and neck in terms of the number of film titles released in either format before last year's Christmas and year-end sales season. However, during the sales season, when both sides engaged in an all-out battle for recorder sales, Blu-ray format recorders dominated more than 90 percent of the domestic market.
Toshiba made a last ditch effort to save its HD DVD business by slashing its prices on the players in January by as much as 25% in the U.S., but Blu-ray players still outsold HD DVD players by more than two to one, according to analysts.
Toshiba is likely to maintain sales of HD DVD recorders and players for a while, but is expected to stop producing players for personal computers and recorders for televisions, and drop the development of new products.
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