DIE HD-DVD DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Toshiba quits HD DVD business
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business WriterTue Feb 19, 7:02 AM ET
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 format battle for next-generation video.
"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo offices.
The move would make Blu-ray backed by Sony Corp., Matsu****a 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 last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.
"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."
Warner joined Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox in that move.
Nishida said his company had confidence in HD DVD as a technology and tried to assure the estimated 1 million people, including some 600,000 people in North America, who already bought HD DVD machines by promising that Toshiba will continue to provide product support for the technology.
Both HD DVD and Blu-ray deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, which are more detailed and vivid than existing video technology. They are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players. But both formats play on high-definition TVs.
HD DVD was touted as being cheaper because it was more similar to previous video technology, while Blu-ray boasted bigger recording capacity.
Only one video format has been expected to emerge as the victor, much like VHS trumped Sony's Betamax in the video format battle of the 1980s.
Nishida said it was still uncertain what will happen with the Hollywood studios that signed to produce HD DVD movies, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.
Toshiba's pulling the plug on the technology is expected to reduce the number of new high-definition movies that people will be able to watch on HD DVD machines. Toshiba Corp. said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.
Sales in Blu-ray gadgets are now likely to pick up as consumers had held off in investing in the latest recorders and players because they didn't know which format would emerge dominant.
Despite being a possible blow to Toshiba's pride, the exit will probably lessen the potential damage in losses in HD DVD operations. Goldman Sachs has said pulling out would improve Toshiba's profitability between 40 billion yen and 50 billion yen ($370 million-$460 million) a year.
The reasons behind Blu-ray's triumph over HD DVD are complex, as marketing, management maneuvers and other factors are believed to have played into the shift to Blu-ray's favor that became more decisive during the critical holiday shopping season.
Once the balance starts tilting in favor of one in a format battle, then the domination tends to grow and become final, said Kazuharu Miura, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo.
"The trend became decisive I think this year," he said. "When Warner made its decision, it was basically over."
With movie studios increasingly lining up behind Blu-ray, retailers also began to stock more Blu-ray products.
Friday's decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware appeared to deal a final blow to the Toshiba format. Just five days earlier, Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD.
Several major American retailers had already made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.
Also adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.
HD DVD supporters included Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 game machine can play HD DVD movies, but the drive had to be bought separately, and Nishida said about 300,000 people have those.
Worldwide sales of personal computers with HD DVD drives total about 300,000 worldwide, including 140,000 in North America and 130,000 in Europe, he said.
Recently, the Blu-ray disc format has been gaining market share, especially in Japan. A study on fourth quarter sales last year by market researcher BCN Inc. found that by unit volume, Blu-ray made up 96 percent of Japanese sales.
Sony said it did not have numbers on how many Blu-ray players had been sold globally.
Toshiba's stock slipped 0.6 percent Tuesday to 824 yen after jumping 5.7 percent Monday amid reports that a decision was imminent. Sony shares climbed 2.2 percent to 5,010 yen after rising 1 percent Monday.
Also Tuesday, Toshiba said it plans to spend more than 1.7 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) for two plants in Japan to produce sophisticated chips called NAND flash memory, which are used in portable music players and cell phones. Production there will start in 2010.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_toshiba
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business WriterTue Feb 19, 7:02 AM ET
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 format battle for next-generation video.
"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo offices.
The move would make Blu-ray backed by Sony Corp., Matsu****a 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 last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.
"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."
Warner joined Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox in that move.
Nishida said his company had confidence in HD DVD as a technology and tried to assure the estimated 1 million people, including some 600,000 people in North America, who already bought HD DVD machines by promising that Toshiba will continue to provide product support for the technology.
Both HD DVD and Blu-ray deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, which are more detailed and vivid than existing video technology. They are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players. But both formats play on high-definition TVs.
HD DVD was touted as being cheaper because it was more similar to previous video technology, while Blu-ray boasted bigger recording capacity.
Only one video format has been expected to emerge as the victor, much like VHS trumped Sony's Betamax in the video format battle of the 1980s.
Nishida said it was still uncertain what will happen with the Hollywood studios that signed to produce HD DVD movies, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.
Toshiba's pulling the plug on the technology is expected to reduce the number of new high-definition movies that people will be able to watch on HD DVD machines. Toshiba Corp. said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.
Sales in Blu-ray gadgets are now likely to pick up as consumers had held off in investing in the latest recorders and players because they didn't know which format would emerge dominant.
Despite being a possible blow to Toshiba's pride, the exit will probably lessen the potential damage in losses in HD DVD operations. Goldman Sachs has said pulling out would improve Toshiba's profitability between 40 billion yen and 50 billion yen ($370 million-$460 million) a year.
The reasons behind Blu-ray's triumph over HD DVD are complex, as marketing, management maneuvers and other factors are believed to have played into the shift to Blu-ray's favor that became more decisive during the critical holiday shopping season.
Once the balance starts tilting in favor of one in a format battle, then the domination tends to grow and become final, said Kazuharu Miura, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo.
"The trend became decisive I think this year," he said. "When Warner made its decision, it was basically over."
With movie studios increasingly lining up behind Blu-ray, retailers also began to stock more Blu-ray products.
Friday's decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware appeared to deal a final blow to the Toshiba format. Just five days earlier, Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD.
Several major American retailers had already made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.
Also adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.
HD DVD supporters included Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 game machine can play HD DVD movies, but the drive had to be bought separately, and Nishida said about 300,000 people have those.
Worldwide sales of personal computers with HD DVD drives total about 300,000 worldwide, including 140,000 in North America and 130,000 in Europe, he said.
Recently, the Blu-ray disc format has been gaining market share, especially in Japan. A study on fourth quarter sales last year by market researcher BCN Inc. found that by unit volume, Blu-ray made up 96 percent of Japanese sales.
Sony said it did not have numbers on how many Blu-ray players had been sold globally.
Toshiba's stock slipped 0.6 percent Tuesday to 824 yen after jumping 5.7 percent Monday amid reports that a decision was imminent. Sony shares climbed 2.2 percent to 5,010 yen after rising 1 percent Monday.
Also Tuesday, Toshiba said it plans to spend more than 1.7 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) for two plants in Japan to produce sophisticated chips called NAND flash memory, which are used in portable music players and cell phones. Production there will start in 2010.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_toshiba
Universal will now switch to Blu-ray
Move comes as Toshiba finally abandons format
By Sue Zeidler
Reuters
updated 2:03 p.m. PT, Tues., Feb. 19, 2008
LOS ANGELES - General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures, one of a few studios using the Toshiba Corp.-backed HD DVD format, said on Tuesday it will switch to the rival Blu-ray format now that Toshiba has officially pulled the plug on HD DVD.
Officials from other HD DVD backers, like Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., had no immediate comment.
"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear," Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms, said in a statement.
"The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate. While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray," he said.
Universal Pictures had no further comment.
Toshiba finally threw in the towel on Tuesday after losing support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp.
Both sides had aimed to set the standard for the next generation of discs, but the fight had only confused shoppers.
A key turning point in the war came last month when Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., which had backed both formats, decided to support Blu-ray exclusively.
Since then, big U.S. retailers also aligned with Blu-ray, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc. and online video rental company Netflix Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23241911/
Move comes as Toshiba finally abandons format
By Sue Zeidler
Reuters
updated 2:03 p.m. PT, Tues., Feb. 19, 2008
LOS ANGELES - General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures, one of a few studios using the Toshiba Corp.-backed HD DVD format, said on Tuesday it will switch to the rival Blu-ray format now that Toshiba has officially pulled the plug on HD DVD.
Officials from other HD DVD backers, like Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., had no immediate comment.
"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear," Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms, said in a statement.
"The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate. While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray," he said.
Universal Pictures had no further comment.
Toshiba finally threw in the towel on Tuesday after losing support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp.
Both sides had aimed to set the standard for the next generation of discs, but the fight had only confused shoppers.
A key turning point in the war came last month when Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., which had backed both formats, decided to support Blu-ray exclusively.
Since then, big U.S. retailers also aligned with Blu-ray, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc. and online video rental company Netflix Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23241911/
neoprodigy;1530120; said:i got no games nor blue ray movie...
Booo..
Wow.. Toshiba conceded real fast. I am really sorry for the folks who bought HD DVDs . But theres still a lot of movies to be bought.. and for Cheap.
Funny how the word M A T S U S H I T A got censored.
neoprodigy;1530120; said:i got no games nor blue ray movie...
BOOOO!!!!! You even got ur PS3 before I did!
redtailfool;1530203; said:Wow.. Toshiba conceded real fast. I am really sorry for the folks who bought HD DVDs . But theres still a lot of movies to be bought.. and for Cheap.
Wes,
What Blu-ray movies u got so far? I already got a decent amount. Best Buy had Planet Earth and the Spider-Man Trilogy on Sale.
Hello.............................. HD DVD/ XBox fan boys, anyone there?............ Hello..................No one? Hello..............................................
You sure as hell were he previously..............Hello? Where are you fanboys? Hello?
Hello?
Anyone?
no more fanboys?
THANK GOD!!!!! Finally I can enjoy superior media in silence!
You sure as hell were he previously..............Hello? Where are you fanboys? Hello?
Hello?
Anyone?
no more fanboys?
THANK GOD!!!!! Finally I can enjoy superior media in silence!
Jed - i really havent been buying movies lately. I only have 1 Blu Ray movie atm
and its Taladegga Nights ( lol ! ) . But i have a lot on my list... Planet Earth is on top, Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings and The Matrix when it gets released , etc etc etc...
Rally - LOL.. You just threw the proverbial stone at a fanboys hive. You will get responses, but it wont be pretty .
and its Taladegga Nights ( lol ! ) . But i have a lot on my list... Planet Earth is on top, Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings and The Matrix when it gets released , etc etc etc...
Rally - LOL.. You just threw the proverbial stone at a fanboys hive. You will get responses, but it wont be pretty .
