HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement: daaamn
By Ryan Block 
posted Jan 4th 2008 10:14PM
posted Jan 4th 2008 10:14PM
Update: Toshiba, masters of the HD DVD format, just issued a press release expressing their "particular disappointment" with Warner, also implying that the move to go Blu-ray exclusive is actually in breach of contract. The particularly depressing release is also posted after the break.
Update 2: Doing a little victory dance of its own, Blu-ray is touting its CES presence as "Best Booth of All Time". No, not at all puerile. Nyah.
--snip (cancellation email)--
Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group
Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
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.
We'll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.
--end-
--snip (the release of disappointment, PR cousin to the walk of shame)--
Toshiba's Comment on Announcement from Warner Bros. Entertainment of Its Exclusive Support for Blu-ray Disc Format
TOKYO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner
Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact
that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning
the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long
maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together
to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define
and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.
We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite
of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as
other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the
US market in 2007.
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.
--end--
This situation will only take inovation and dump it down the toilet. Competition is good, monopoly is not. Sure, you'll see some new features but not like you would have with two competing formats.
But HD hurt themselves from the start. First, don't give your product a generic brand name. When most people think of "hd" they think of a technology not a brand. Blue Ray stands out, HDdvd does not. Second, speaking of standing out, don't package your product in dull brown cases that fade into the background when your competition has bright "look at me" blue cases. HD's marketing team needs to find a McDonalds to flip burgers in. Maybe they could handle that without screwing it up.
Then again, I had to wonder what was going on when nearly every time I walked into a store the Blue Ray display was right out front, big and bold. You couldn't miss it. The HD display, on the other hand, was usually behind all that with no fanfare at all. It was almost as if these retailers were pushing one over the other.
Aww man! I wanted to see what was gonna happen, lol.
Warner did the right thing and took the BLUE PILL. Look at how Neo turn out by taking the RED PILL. It's a hard pill to swallow.
Harder to swallow, but ultimately the right choice.
I refuse to buy anything Sony has corrupted - so if Blu-ray wins this one, it looks like I'll be getting my content OTA, or not at all.
If Blu-Ray wins this battle it will be the first format that Sony has ever backed with a future. I mean, thank God we're not all running around with Betamax tapes, Minidisc players, and DAPs that only support MemoryStick. Did everyone forget about ATRAC. Imagine if MP3 didn't become the dominant format there. It's really a shame. I refuse to buy anything associated with Sony. If they made a light bulb it would have a proprietary socket.
"Don't you see what all this fighting is doing!?! You're tearing this family apart!"
Zip drives for the win.
@Andrew
CD, DVD, Floppy were all backed by Sony. BluRay is not the first time Sony has succeeded in bringing a successful format to the market place.
What were DVDs and CD competing with? Just curious.
Re: Andrew
CD was competing with the most successful audio format at the time (audio cassette), which enjoyed nearly 100% market share dominance.
DVD was competing with the most successful video format at the time (VHS), which enjoyed nearly 100% market share dominance.
If you're point was to state that DVD and CD was revolutionary, just remember that the challenge back in the 80's was to convince critics that they should ditch their tried and true analog players for the new technology. And, for that, Sony deserves the credit.
That sucks for Microsoft... like really hard.
Wow, that does suck for people with HD-DVD players...
Is anyone else stunned by how fast this came in light of the Warner Bro. announcement?! The death knell is sounding for HD-DVD louder and louder by the minute here people, I'm amazed. Oh well, I have both format players.
how does this suck form Microsoft?
Why? I've loving my Battlestar Galactica in HD. Pick a format and live with it. Fuck the wars. I just feel sorry that there are so many BR players out there that are feature lacking because Sony and co couldn't get their damn format finalized before they rushed it out the door.
HD-DVD just announced its lack of testicles.
Does this mean an external Blu-Ray drive for the 360? lol...
Actually I think microsoft could care less, they are stirring up the format war with their support of HD-DVD to keep the user base of both formats low, they see downloads and streaming from your TV as the way of the future for movie distribution(future of xbox live marketplace once internet speeds increase)and cheap flash media as the future for software(windows, office) and game distribution(xbox).
just to note: flash drives are getting cheaper and already surpass the speed of discs in transfer rate and especially access/seek time
I think Microsoft are out to cripple Sony's consumer products domination, and this is just part of the throw-money-at-anything to wear them (Sony) down strategy. I guess you can see this specific venture as a learning experiment, the money being pretty much written off anyway.
Microsoft know they need to diversify in the face of inevitable change and embrace new 'gateways' 'hubs' 'self-created standards' 'portals' etc, because 'owning one' is like being able to print money.
Microsoft had the opportunity to fully invest in this format by making an XBOX with an internal HD-DVD drive. It also had the option of thwarting PS3 market penetration by dropping the price on its current machines by another US$50 or so. It chose instead to merely act as spoiler, hoping to keep the marketplace in flux until streaming movies became the norm. Looks like that didn't work out, but likely Microsoft's wargamers plotted out their next move a long time ago. The real questio for consumers is, now that the "plan to stop Sony" has failed, will the XBOX brand remain a part of Microsoft's long term future at all?
Microsoft is probably right about the future of media delivery being direct downloads, but I just wish they'd stop monkeying with the market in 2008. Today, discs are still my best option considering of the 5 places I've lived in the Silicon ValleySan Francisco, none of them qualify for DSL above 144kbps, and Comcast would cancel my data plan if I downloaded just 4gb of video each day. WE'RE NOT READY! Let us buy our plastic disks in peace until we get our FTTP.
So that's it? Blu-ray won?
Fernando, no, I'd say the format war is far from over. The success or failure of both formats will not be decided solely on US sales or studio exclusivity deals.
Right now, HDDVD players are under $200 for non entry level models. BD players are at least twice to two and a half times that for similarly spec'd models. Regardless of one studio going HD or BD exclusive if the players are too expensive for anyone other than early adopters, then the format is going to die.
Then there's China and CH-DVD, which is China's domestic market only answer to HD-DVD. The CH-DVD media is pressed on the same presses as HD-DVD and DVD media, and the players are built on the same assembly lines as HD-DVD and DVD players, using the same components. It's a bit of a ripoff of HD-DVD, being just different enough to avoid crackdowns by the WTO for IP infringement, but it means that China will be able to crank out tens of millions of cheap HD-DVD players for the west, and equal numbers of CH-DVD players for China's home market. Unless Blu Ray can bring their player prices down, which their stance on royalty payments suggests they're unwilling to do, then China, and thus Wal Mart, Target, Tessco, and other major retailers will give consumers the choice of dirt cheap HDDVD hardware to buy.
The Asian market is as large as Europe and the US combined. If China can supply HD-DVD players to them at sub $100 prices, then Warner, Fox, Disney and company will be forced to jump back on the HDDVD wagon.
Blu-Ray player are not twice the amount of HD DVD, the Samsung 1400 and the sony s300 can be found at stores for 299.99 and online as low as 269.99. Unless HD DVD have dropped to 149.99 and 134.99 they are not twice the amount.
Crunch: you must REALLY hate Sony to be that desperate.
Stewie:
Google product search yields the lowest price for a BD-P1400 as $261 (rounding up to the nearest dollar)
And the Sony S300 (hardly a fair comparison, since it's an old model) is $270, also on Google product search.
Where are you finding these sub $200 prices?
Incidentally, the Toshiba HD-A3 is $184 for the cheapest retailer on Google product search.
So they're inching prices down, but they're still well above HDDVD player prices.
And do you see the BD consortium making a deal with Chinese manufacturers to mass produce BD decks for cheap? Doesn't seem very likely to me.
How could anyone have expected HD DVD to win?
Blu Ray has a considerably higher potential storage limit.
PS3's put Blu Ray players in more homes than any other HD optical disk playback device.
IT WAS OBVIOUS.
Where it went wrong was Microsoft not putting an HDDVD drive in the 360. After that it was all downhill.
I'm suprised HDDVD lasted this long in fact. I thought it would fizzle out like a bad fart.
Now Apple is planning to use Blu Ray drives? (cause they HATE MS)?
I thout Apple choosing Blu Ray would have been the final nail in HDDVD's heart. Now with WARNER going that way???? HDDVD has been shot 12 times in the head and disemboweled and set on fire.
Okay fanboys, since this is degenerating into a bitchfest, ask yourselves this:
Does Sony and company have the financial resources to get into a protracted format war with Microsoft and the rest? Given Microsoft having shown that they're entirely willing to blow billions (with a "B") and lose their ass on an entire generation of hardware (the original X-Box) in order to solidify their presence, and dominance in the market. Microsoft alone has $40B+ in liquid cash that they're just sitting on. Sony has been taking it on the chin in their music business unit and the PS3, Sony Pictures Entertainment is holding it's own, and SOE is the sole bright spot, showing a profit.
And, as I said, the United States is not the center of the universe, and this little speedbump only concerns the US, not the entire world. China alone will account for more sales of players than the US will, even with most of it's population living in medieval conditions. Then there's the rest of Southeast and Central Asia. They follow where China leads. China is throwing their weight behind the faster cheaper option: CH-DVD and HD-DVD.
As for Sony, I really don't have any strong feelings one way or the other. They're simply repeating history, ala Betamax.
This fight is FAR from over.
actually sony has huge deals with chinese electronic companaies as they phase out old cellular technologies for gsm. many of these same companies are closely related to many other technologies many of which would gladly jump at manufacturing blu-ray. not that makes any difference as this has nothing to do with sony as they are customers not owners of blu-ray.
Pquistgard owned Crush hard XD
Seriously...comparing it with CH-DVD...with this do you really have the moral quality to call everyone else fanboy?
crunch:
"The success or failure of both formats will not be decided solely on US sales"
actually... you should probably hope that it is, as hd-dvd is getting the beating of a lifetime throughout the rest of the world. NA is the only continent that had somewhat close (although still massive sales lead) sales for hd-dvd.
Flashpoint's post makes some good points (no pun intended). MS should have bitten the bullet and just stuck an HD-DVD drive inside the 360.
I always thought Blu-Ray was the format that had more potential.
As for cheap chinese Blu-Ray players, I think it will eventually happen, just as it did with DVD players.
It's not that HD-DVD is a bad format. It's the fact there Tohsiba and Sony decided to compete instead of working together.
Anyone remember the DiVX disc? Granted, it had it's share of "what the hell were they thinking?" when it had to call home each time you wanted to watch a released title. HD-DVD obviously doesn't have that yoke to deal with. But it was a second format. And once it was out of the way, DVD took off even more than it had before. And studios that bet their farm on that format (Disney) eventually released everything in DVD format.
The same will be true once one of these formats goes away. At the moment, it looks as though that would be HD-DVD. And if that is the format that gets buried, then the exclusive HD-DVD titles will be released on Blu-Ray.
Is HD-DVD dead? No(not yet), but it was just kicked in the groin.
Pvt. Crunch, soldier of HD-DVD, refused to admit that the war is over... still clinging onto his A3 muttering to himself, "Transformers.... Transformers..."
@Crunch Buttsteak
Are you saying that people will still be buying cheap movie players
from China just because its cheap even if they dont have any movies
to play? Didn't the article that we just read says that the majority
of the movie companies are siding to Blu-ray. Are you expecting
people to only watch Chinese subtitled movies bought from Ebay? Dont
get me wrong..Im trying to make sense of what you just said.
I would say with both Blockbuster and Warner on Blu-Ray, it'd be getting pretty close to the end.
I hope just for consumers' sake that there's a clear winner by 2009. I haven't bought a high-def player yet, my upscaling DVD play is doing me fine.
In all honesty, it'd be like sony showing up after the world said 'we want vhs' claiming they had a new betamax to rewind in half the time. Even good news from a dying format isn't really good news...
well actually BluRay doesnt solely belong to Sony
Jesus H. Christ...
Ever heard of similes and metaphors..."he's a rock", "he's like a rock"..."it'd be like sony...."
Why do you think Microsoft wouldn't put HD-DVD in their players. They knew this could very well happen! Now they don't look so stupid.
Smart indeed. They evaded the high initial price like the PS3. Gotta admit, that's thinking ahead.
or the fact that it lowers the price dramatically...compare ps3 to 360 sales...haha
This is awesome....finally the end is near. Blu-RAY all the way!
Bummer. R.I.P. HD-DVD. We hardly knew thee.
Looks like I'll be buying that Ps3 for blu ray after all.
I'll second that.
"PS3 has now been added to your cart."
one small step for warner bros. one giant leap for blu-ray :) congrats
I figured Blu-Ray was going to win. I sort of prefer it this way anyways, even though I am a big Microsoft fan I still have a soft spot in my heart for Sony and it's coolness.
I hate Sony but I hate Microsoft more. Hurray for BlueRay.
Sony and it's thick like Queen Latifa BD+ on top of AACS DRM, region locking, unfinished profiles, and root kit coolness? yeah...
Oh well. At least the war is ending, and with AnyDVD, it'll be alright I guess. Grr Sony, you finally got a standard w/o Phillips holding your hand.
Too bad "different kinds of interactive features" didn't have the feature to not lose. Maybe there's a rewind button!
Even though i have an hd dvd player i hope this ends this silly format war.
im tired of it all already and i dont want to buy any more hd dvd's anymore regardless if its superior or not *harry potter and 300* just because i know that warner is going blu. i mean whats the point. they better just cut their losses now and get out of it.