It's official: Toshiba Corp., one of the companies spearheading the development of the HD-DVD next generation DVD format has pulled the plug with the announcement that the company will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders. The announcement came Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
The announcement comes after several several news outlets over the weekend reported that Toshiba was planning on making the move.
"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida said during the announcement. He credited the decision by Warner Bros. to release their content exclusively on Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format as the final blow to the HD-DVD format.
"That had tremendous impact," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."
It is still uncertain what will happen with the studios that signed on to release their home entertainment exclusively on the HD-DVD format, including Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation.
Toshiba said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.
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