Toshiba shuts down HD DVD

Tokyo (Japan) – The HD format war is officially over, as Toshiba today announced that it has stopped developing, manufacturing or marketing of HD DVD players.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters that “drastic changes” in the business environment convinced the company to pull the plug on HD DVD. In the end, it came down to Warner Bros.’ decision to go with Blu-ray exclusively (press release in Japanese).

"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." According to an AP report, the company concluded that a “swift decision would be best.”

While Nishida said that it was unclear what would happen to the movie studios that are currently exclusively supporting HD DVD (Universal, Dreamworks), he confirmed that people who purchased HD DVD players would continue to receive support from the company.

Toshiba has begun reducing HD DVD shipments into the channel and expects the supply to dry up by the end of March. No decision has been made for PC HD DVD drives. However, the company said that it is considering ending mass production of PC devices as well.

Going down the road, the company will shift its resources into the creation of new business strategies that "leverage its vast technological resources," Toshiba said. These resources include access to Blu-ray technology via its TSST joint venture.