02/19/2008
Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the major format war in next-generation video.
“We concluded that a swift decision would be best,” Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo office.
The move would make Blu-ray _ backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and five major Hollywood movie studios _ the winner in the battle over high-definition DVD formatting that began several years ago.
Nishida said decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable, although his company had confidence in HD DVD as a technology.
Toshiba Corp. said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.
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