Investors approve Toshiba plan to drop HD DVD
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Shares surge on claim it'll ditch format Toshiba shares jumped today more six per cent today as investors voiced their approval of the company's alleged decision to abandon the HD DVD optical disc format.â¦
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Japan's Toshiba Corp  will  announce plans to cease production and sales of HD DVD players  on Tuesday, the Nikkei business daily said.
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The electronics maker is poised to become the leader in high-definition following the demise of HD DVD.
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Toshiba Corp is planning to give up on  its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to  the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp, a company  source said on Saturday.
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Toshiba Corp  is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp , a company source said on Saturday.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp  waved the  white flag in the home movie war, giving up on its HD DVD  format after losing the support of key studios and retailers to  the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp .
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Toshiba Corp  is planning to give  up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding  defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp  , a company source said on Saturday.
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NEW YORK -- Toshiba Corp. on Monday announced an aggressive campaign to bolster its HD DVD movie disc format against Sony-backed Blu-ray technology, cutting prices on players to as low as $149.99.
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TOKYO, Nov 29, 2004 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- Toshiba Corp. said Monday it has won support from four US film studios for its next-generation DVD format called HD DVD.
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No We surrender Toshiba has abandoned HD DVD "following recent major changes in the market", spinning the failure of its favourite format as a move made to strengthen the industry.â¦
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The decision by&#160;Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc&#160;for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?Since both formats launched they have been locked in a battle that pitted some of the industry&#39;s biggest consumer electronics companies against each other. Backing Blu-ray Disc has been Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while HD DVD&#39;s main supporters have been Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel.The battle also divided Hollywood and left consumers with a difficult choice: their favorite movies were likely split between the two formats and there was a risk the player they bought would become irrelevant. As a result consumers kept away from the formats and sales have been sluggish.Warner&#39;s decision will give Blu-ray Disc an advantage in terms of content. With the move, five of the big seven Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc with only two, Paramount and Universal, backing HD DVD.The Warner announcement certainly put the HD DVD Promotion Group&#39;s CES plans in disarray. Within hours of the announcement, the group cancelled its scheduled Sunday-evening news conference and subsequent media interviews at CES.&quot;They&#39;re definitely regrouping and considering their options at the moment, this could be extremely important,&quot; said Tom Coughlin, a storage analyst at Coughlin Associates. &quot;This could be the beginning of a major pivotal turning point in the high-def format war, which if we could define the format which is going to win would be extremely important for the industry because this would free up consumers to start making decisions on the purchase of their systems.&quot;Better sales would help consumer electronics manufacturers increase production and that would in turn lead to lower prices, said Coughlin. Those lower prices would then lead to better sales and that would help the entire industry, he said.Warner touched on the format battle&#39;s impact on the consumer electronics industry in a statement announcing its move.&quot;A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,&quot; said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner&#39;s home entertainment group in a statement.Whether or not the fight is really over remains to be seen.Toshiba said it was &quot;quite surprised&quot; by the announcement from Warner &quot;despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD.&quot;&quot;We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer,&quot; Toshiba said in a statement.For some, the Warner decision marks the end of the format battle.&quot;I think the war is over. HD DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors,&quot; said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group. &quot;The basic issue is not technology. It&#39;s about distribution, it&#39;s about marketing, it&#39;s about content and Blu-ray has been winning the content war for sometime. I don&#39;t know why [Toshiba] keeps pouring money into it, it&#39;s time to stop.&quot;Harris credited Sony&#39;s inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the PlayStation 3 with being one of the instrumental moves in winning the fight for Blu-ray Disc.&quot;I think Sony&#39;s brilliant move and one of the few they have made in this effort is putting Blu-ray into PS3,&quot; he said. &quot;Even though PS3 hasn&#39;t sold so well in the console wars, in terms of being a platform for Blu-ray distribution it&#39;s been a success for them and I think that&#39;s what really put Blu-ray over the top.&quot;The praise comes as Sony has finally started to see PlayStation 3 sales pick-up after a year of sluggish sales. Ironically the company has been often criticized by analysts and the media for the inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the device as that contributed to a high price that put many consumers off buying the high-def games console.&#160;
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Like a boxer trying to regain the momentum after a volley of body blows, Toshiba is making efforts to rally the HD high-definition DVD alliance. In the past few days, it has dropped the regular price on several HD players, continued a promotion of free movies, and reportedly will increase its marketing campaign.
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Troubled format doomed, claim Japanese moles Toshiba's board of directors will this week meet to put and end to the company's production of HD DVD machines, it has been claimed.â¦
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Japan's Toshiba Corp  waved the  white flag in the high-definition home movie war on Tuesday,  giving up on its HD DVD format after losing the support of key  studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony  Corp .
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With rumors swirling that Toshiba is about to scrap HD DVD altogether, the largest retailer in the world says it, too, is choosing to support Blu-ray Disc.
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Defunct format sell-off eBay said today it expects to an increase in listings for HD DVD products following Toshiba's announcement yesterday that it is going to ditch its optical disc format.â¦
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Consumers and investors cheered an  impending end to a format war for next-generation DVDs on  Monday, with share gains for both Toshiba, on the verge of  abandoning its HD DVD discs, and Sony, the leader of the rival  Blu-ray camp.