| williamee |
02-25-2008 21:57 |
Toshiba officially declares HD DVD dead on Feb 19, 2008
Here is the statement in full:
Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall
strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD
players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the
market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for
all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high
definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of
consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.
“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format
war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi
Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition
content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”
Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass
market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small
form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and
encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around
strategic progress in these convergence technologies.
Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players to retail channels, aiming for
cessation by the end of March 2008.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will
continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to
contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an
international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and
defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.
Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with
Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount
Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on
the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP.
Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD. |
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