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Warner Bros. dropped a bomb on the consumer electronics industry last week when it revealed that it will exclusively release its high-def titles in the Blu-ray format starting in May. Talk that this could be the final nail in the coffin of HD DVD has swarmed CES 2008 in Las Vegas.
The HD DVD Promotion Group responded by canceling its press conference scheduled for Sunday, Jan 6th at CES. A move which symbolized the waving of the white flag.
“We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.”
This left Toshiba, their major ally in the format war, high and dry. But Toshiba execs didn’t waver as they faced the media at CES.
“It’s difficult for me to read all the pundits declare that HD DVD is dead,” said Jodi Sally, vide-president of marketing for Toshiba’s Digital A/V Group. “Clearly the events of the last few days have lead many of you to that conclusion, but we’ve been declared dead before.”
Sally cited sales numbers as proof HD DVD is thriving. “The reality is, we ended 2007 with a majority lead in year-to-date market share. Our unit sales in the 4Q were the best to date for HD DVD.”
(Check out our Photos from the CES Show Floor.)
It is sad that the better designed HD DVD format is loosing. Blu-ray is still struggling to find itself with releasing half-baked specs, like 1.0, then 1.1, and soon 2.0.
The reality, is that HD DVD has sold more players, far more players, than Blu-ray. HD DVD players are roughly 1/2 the price of their Blu-ray counterparts. I mean, when have you seen a Blu-ray player being advertised for $100 to $150??
Too bad the movie studios, all movie studios, simply can’t offer their potential customers both formats, and leave it entirely up to the customer to choose.
It is about time the better technology wins. I was thrilled to see that Warner sided with Blu-ray. The HD-DVD camp can say what they want but when retail stores either reduces or stops selling their players all together then it won’t matter what Toshiba exec’s say. Now maybe I can start getting some of the great movies that were on HD-DVD to start coming out on Blu-ray.
I meant GO, GO, GO. HD-DVD all the way!
What happened to the picture of the goat originally on this story?
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better designed? ha, those hd discs skip with minor scratches. Also HD dvd has not sold anywhere near the amount as Blu Ray players, and yes I am including the PS3. I bought the PS3 primarily for movies, as a bunch of other people I know. If there are more HD DVD players out there then you guys must be too cheap to buy the movies, which is why all the studios are switching to the format that has more software sold.