Digital Home Thoughts: HD-DVD May Be Dropped by Toshiba

"The format war has turned into a format death watch. Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's announcement in early January that it would support only the rival Blu-ray Disc format after May. Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings," she said. But she hinted that something's in the air. "Given the market developments in the past month," she said, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players." Immediately after the Warner announcement, the HD DVD North American Promotional Group canceled its Consumer Electronics Show presentation. The following week, data collected by the NPD Group revealed Blu-ray took in 93% of all hardware sales for that week."



So this is what all those Betamax owners felt like in the '80s. I've never backed an unsuccessful technology format before, so it's a strange feeling knowing that HD-DVD is all but dead. It was the superior format in almost every way, but just like the VHS vs. Beta battles of yore, it didn't have the marketing muscle or industry support to win out in the end. Oh well. I only bought six or so HD-DVDs, so it's not like my investment was huge - and as long as my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive keeps working, I have a place to play them. I imagine by 2009 we'll see dual-format HD players around $150 or so, so there's a path for those of use with HD-DVD content. In the meantime, if you have an Xbox 360, it's tough to beat the price of $119 for the HD-DVD drive with six free movies total - hell, you won't find many HD-DVD discs for $19 USD each, but that's what it works out to, and you get a free player to boot.