The snow ball that started picking up speed and mass since Warner's announcement has now finally hit HD DVD and quickly buried it. Yes, Toshiba has now issued a statement saying that, after reviewing the possibilities, it has decided to no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. The company will still provide support for owners of its HD DD products but that probably won't make adopters happy.
"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."
From this moment on Toshiba plans to stop delivering HD DVD players and recorders by the end of March. There you have it, this format war is over and Blu-Ray is the winner. Now can we get some cheaper BD drives?
Jbg.