AfterDawn: News

Toshiba denies it is dropping HD DVD

Despite rampant speculation and rumor, it seems that Toshiba is not dropping HD DVD, or at least not for the time being.

The corporation has released a brief press release this morning in an effort to put a damper on the rumors that have been spreading since the giant retailer Wal-Mart decided to go Blu-ray exclusive beginning in June.



"The media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment," read the complete statement.

This latest statement could simply be a way to stall before the decision to drop the failing format is officially made, but for now HD DVD fans still have some hope.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2008 16:18

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• 35 comments

• limelight

  Give it up already. The retailers made their decision. The consumers made their decision. HD DVD is a viable format yes, but in the end Blu Ray has a better longevity due to its larger volume. Dvd proved this with going from single layer to dual layer in a short time period.

  18.2.2008 16:38 #1

• ZeusAV

  This is just PR for them to sell off the rest of their players. If they "officially" dropped HD-DVD right now then no one would buy all of the players sitting on shelves right now and Toshiba would lose even more money than they are right now.
  
  Also I was watching the news today and all major media outlets (Fox, CNN, MSNBC) are reporting that Toshiba has dropped the format and telling consumers to buy Blu-Ray. Face it, it's over.

  18.2.2008 16:39 #2

• Ntolerant

  Originally posted by ZeusAV: This is just PR for them to sell off the rest of their players. If they "officially" dropped HD-DVD right now then no one would buy all of the players sitting on shelves right now and Toshiba would lose even more money than they are right now.
  
  Also I was watching the news today and all major media outlets (Fox, CNN, MSNBC) are reporting that Toshiba has dropped the format and telling consumers to buy Blu-Ray. Face it, it's over.
  Good point......and very likely.
  
  It's also possible that this was a b.s. rumour to begin with. Who knows.
  
  I'm inclined to think that your initial response is most likely.

  18.2.2008 17:00 #3

• UkWizard

  In ur face blu-ray. Comebacks are always a good thing. I'm sure hughjars will be chuffed

  18.2.2008 17:01 #4

• esrever

  Now would be a good time to invest is Sony stock.

  18.2.2008 17:05 #5

• esrever

  Now would be a good time to invest in Sony stock.
  
  (sorry, accidental double post) ><

  18.2.2008 17:05 #6

• vinny13

  I bet they need more time to go over their exit strategy with everyone involved :P

  18.2.2008 17:09 #7

• res2cue

  the consumers did not make this decision, Corporate America made it for you.

  18.2.2008 17:23 #8

• camaro17

  well i made this decision and i would consider myself a consumer, im sure same with all of the other Blu-ray supporters here.
  
  Peace

  18.2.2008 17:26 #9

• vinny13

  Originally posted by res2cue: the consumers did not make this decision, Corporate America made it for you.Yes of course. In fact, "Corporate America" sent me a letter just yesterday about why I should buy a Blu-Ray player over HD-DVD.
  
  WTF??
  
  I'm pretty sure whatever I do is my decision, as it is my head and my money after all...

  18.2.2008 17:27 #10

• canuckerz

  Originally posted by UkWizard: In ur face blu-ray. Comebacks are always a good thing. I'm sure hughjars will be chuffedComebacks? Barely any of the studios are on there side, oh yeah and they're pretty much screwed for selling them besides off the Internet now. Jesus know how to accept defeat already cripes.

  18.2.2008 17:31 #11

• Ryu77

  Where's hughjars?

  18.2.2008 17:45 #12

• goodswipe

  Originally posted by limelight: Give it up already. The retailers made their decision. The consumers made their decision.I don't know why people always say this. Yes retailers made up their minds to stock only one format, or shall I say "push" one format but, consumers never had a say in this, which is sad. The big studios made their decision and in turn, this made up the consumers "decision" on which format to back.
  
  Toshiba denies they are dropping HD DVD, of course they are going to say that, duh! That doesn't matter anymore, by now people should see which format is going to take this, regardless of what Toshiba says.
  
  :0(

  18.2.2008 17:49 #13

• m3_chris

  Doesn't really matter... the damage has been done with all the news and headlines. Not to many will buy into HD-DVD after seeing all of that.

  18.2.2008 17:49 #14

• juankerr

  If they persist on holding out then you can bet their share price will plummet after today's rally.
  
  Toshiba's share price rose to a 7-week high today after news of their imminent exit from HD DVD.
  
  http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocks...ndChannel=10005

  18.2.2008 17:56 #15

• hulud86

  Who cares if corporate America made the decision or not. Does it really matter? It's not like they are deciding if your family should live or not.
  
  This high def war has been fun, but i'm ready for it to end. Give it up HD DVD.

  18.2.2008 18:01 #16

• aldan

  of course they are denying that they are dropping hd dvd.they have a lot of stock to flog.any of you old enough to remember vhs versus betamax know that the denials were flying then too.

  18.2.2008 18:17 #17

• scorpNZ

  Wrong! If any of you bothered to read any of the articles pronoucing hd-dvd demise,they all had one thing in common it was a from a "reliable source",not an official toshiba announcement unless someone can point me to a link where toshiba did admit defeat & were pulling it from shelves etc,then again saying that i'd say hd-dvd is gooooooooone..lol..

  18.2.2008 18:52 #18

• newcloud

  how many knifes do they have to put into HD DVDs heart to make toshiba understand its dead!!!!!

  18.2.2008 19:16 #19

• error5

  Toshiba has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon at 5PM Tokyo time, 12 midnight on the west coast. The announcement should come at that time.
  
  http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/20080219AT1D180DU18022008.html
  http://www.digitalbits.com/#mytwocents

  18.2.2008 19:40 #20

• jony218

  Anyone remember the betamax? that beast live for 10 years after it was declared dead. Eventually people stop buying them, but it died a slow painful death.

  18.2.2008 21:25 #21

• error5

  Update: The Toshiba Board of Directors has voted 19 - 0 to end HD DVD production/promotion:
  
  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/2008/02/19/d20080219000025.html
  
  Roughly translated:
  
  http://translate.google.com/translate?u=...n&hl=en&ie=UTF8
  
  The official announcement to come at their 5pm (Tokyo time) press event.

  18.2.2008 21:56 #22

• limelight

  Quote:Originally posted by limelight: Give it up already. The retailers made their decision. The consumers made their decision.I don't know why people always say this. Yes retailers made up their minds to stock only one format, or shall I say "push" one format but, consumers never had a say in this, which is sad. The big studios made their decision and in turn, this made up the consumers "decision" on which format to back.
  
  Toshiba denies they are dropping HD DVD, of course they are going to say that, duh! That doesn't matter anymore, by now people should see which format is going to take this, regardless of what Toshiba says.
  
  :0(I say this because one format is obviously selling better than the other. So much so that it doesnt make sense to stock the "losing" format because the low profits/shelf space arent worth it for retailers.
  
  Let me ask you this: HDdvd is a great format, but what about when videogames for example, start to get bigger and bigger in size? HD-dvd may be suitable now, but in 5 years from now it will be established, have a load of movies out, and then there would be another format coming out. Dont you think so? Blu-ray bypasses all that, giving developers almost 50gb to work with for both videogames and movies from the get go.
  
  Another thing is, you can only compress so much data on a dvd. While it was cost efficient for Microsoft in the short term, pretty soon the magic white box may be hindered by a lack of data storage more and more games demand nowadays. Look at Mass Effect. When I played that, I noticed textures popping in and out as I went through the world, with frame drops to boot. Simply because either bad programming, (which I dont think is the reason at all), or too much data compressed on the disc, and the 360 cant uncompress all those textures fast enough to provide a smooth experience. In a year or two when the ps3 starts to show some graphics heavy games, the 360 cant compete. Which means youll have to fork out another $400 for another system when the ps3 already does it. Sony was bashed about saying the ps3 has a "10 year life cycle", but it makes complete sense: Give the consumer tommorrows technology today, and it will still prove to be a good investment years and years from now.

  18.2.2008 22:36 #23

• vinny13

  Originally posted by error5: Update: The Toshiba Board of Directors has voted 19 - 0 to end HD DVD production/promotion:
  
  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/2008/02/19/d20080219000025.html
  
  Roughly translated:
  
  http://translate.google.com/translate?u=...n&hl=en&ie=UTF8
  
  The official announcement to come at their 5pm (Tokyo time) press event.Wow... Not even one objection... I guess they can handle defeat real well...
  
  But then again, the sooner the better, right? For them anyways. The faster they jump on the "Sony Fanwagon" the sooner they'll make more profit...
  

  (+[PSP]%) = 3.52M33-4
  
  "I get no respect, I tell ya!"

  18.2.2008 23:35 #24

• rarthurb

  This Battle reminds me of Monty Pythons Battle between the White Knight and the Black Night. After the Black Knight had both of his arms and legs chopped off, He was yelling at the White Knight to come back and Fight!

  19.2.2008 00:48 #25

• ZippyDSM

  Meh its in its death throws or at least the start of them....

  19.2.2008 02:59 #26

• juankerr

  Originally posted by rarthurb: This Battle reminds me of Monty Pythons Battle between the White Knight and the Black Night. After the Black Knight had both of his arms and legs chopped off, He was yelling at the White Knight to come back and Fight!Engadget got your cue!
  
  http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/19/off...at-war-is-over/

  19.2.2008 03:30 #27

• domie

  well that's a relief - I mean seriously folks, who wants a format that sounds like a digitally modified version of an incurable sexual disease ? imagine the scenario...
  
  cute girl : hey dude, have you got blu ray ?
  guy : No, but i've got HD-DVD
  
  think about it huh ?

  19.2.2008 05:28 #28

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by domie: well that's a relief - I mean seriously folks, who wants a format that sounds like a digitally modified version of an incurable sexual disease ? imagine the scenario...
  
  cute girl : hey dude, have you got blu ray ?
  guy : No, but i've got HD-DVD
  
  think about it huh ?HD DVD sounds more like a ungraded to DVD than blu ray which sounds like the rays new lazier pistol :P

  19.2.2008 05:31 #29

• hughjars

  We'll all be sorry.

  19.2.2008 16:18 #30

• BluKiller

  I cant believe this whole war was even started. Sony made both formats and stuck to Blu-ray because it was better for the profit and consumer

  20.2.2008 21:32 #31

• vinny13

  Originally posted by hughjars: We'll all be sorry.Maybe you will... Nobody else really cared as much as you :P
  
  Personally I could have cared less if HD-DVD won... I'd just go out and buy a player after a year or so once it settled in... No biggie for me.

  20.2.2008 23:17 #32

• Mr-Movies

  Originally posted by hughjars: We'll all be sorry.Nope just you, told you so way back when.
  
  I must say though it is too bad that Toshiba is throwing the towel in so soon, if that is what they are doing. If this is true then BD will not drop in price much more for a while so I hope that HD hangs in there. It is nice to see that corporate america is backing the better format at least we are going foreward.

  27.2.2008 19:45 #33

• borhan9

  Quote:"The media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment," read the complete statement.
  
  This latest statement could simply be a way to stall before the decision to drop the failing format is officially made, but for now HD DVD fans still have some hope.We will just have to sit and wait for the outcome of this.

  9.4.2008 17:15 #34

• goodswipe

  Quote:We will just have to sit and wait for the outcome of this.LOL, sit back and wait for what? HD DVD is dead.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  "look honey, it said goodswipe! oh wow, that's amazing."

  9.4.2008 17:21 #35