Toshiba pulling the plug on HD DVD already? - Yup it's over.
By Richard Lawler 
posted February 16th 2008 8:29AM
posted February 16th 2008 8:29AM
Japan's NHK has followed up The Hollywood Reporter's earlier indications Toshiba was ready to dump its money-losing HD DVD business, with news that the company is prepared to cease manufacturing software and hardware, at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. This caps the worst week ever for red, when HD DVD was dumped by Netflix and Wal-mart, pushed to the background by Best Buy and put on -- an apparently incredibly short -- deathwatch right here. Toshiba is mum on the subject right now, but we hear there's plenty of cheap players and movies in a dumpster around back of the HQ. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in; via Reuters; warning, Japanese read link]
Update: Along with an English translation of the NHK's article (Thanks sfditty!) comes additional confirmation from Reuters sources, it's a wrap. Toshiba is shutting down its DVD manufacturing facilities in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, while official word is expected "soon".
this bothers me, all that money wasted on research and development, when they could have first really collaborated, (and i mean really try to work together) and create something maybe even better. Stupid corporations wasting resources and consumer's time.
LOL!
I love all the people thinking they are "victorious" because they backed Blu-Ray... Really, you guys should be feeling ashamed, because now we're going to get butt-raped up and down the place in home media.
Thank you for fucking us over with the more expensive format.
How long before Toshibas CEO resigns in disgrace over this mess.
I think for most of us (non hd dvd fanboys) it was obvious Bluray would win this once Bluray was put in PS3. It only became more obvious as more PS3s sold and movie sales kept going up for Bluray.
The CEO threw millions (hundreds of millions?) down on a snowballs chance of surviving and no chance of winning anything but a draw that would damage both formats.
I always thought that HD DVD Would win... So this is a good lesson as to why we should not predict!!! REALLY DUDE..
the only way i'd buy a blu-ray player is if the entire lord of the rings trilogy came on one disc. blu-ray supporters keep jacking off bragging how much space they have but so far they havent put any of that space to good use
Why people all said Blu-ray is Sony's format? Sony is not the only developer for Blu-ray. Pioneer, Philips, sharp and others are in it as much as Sony.
On a side note, what will happen to CH-DVD now that HD-DVD will stop developing?
HD DVD lasted longer then expected and for that I congratulate them.
www.talkprice.net
HAHAHAHA
Eat that hd-dud fans, that's what you get for being dumb enough to buy a product that is losing worldwide sales (up to 90% in Japan), least studio support, least retailer support, least manufacture support, and has no sale catalyst (ps3).
The writing is on the wall that hd-dud is a good as hd-ded, who didnt see this coming? yet idiots still buying them, now they own hundreds dollar worth of paper-weight.
Expect all new HD-DVD production to come to a screeching halt (remainders left in the pipeline will still be flushed out). The producers of such diskd have no interest in competing with themselves. How come?
HD-DVD and Bluray are targeted at HDM enthusiasts who value HD content and are willing to pay more for players and disks. This early adopter mode is part and parcel of the electronic media distribution life cycle. As such the hundreds of thousands of HD-DVD players were mostly sold to opportunists who aren’t really in the enthusiast market and don’t represent an opportunity for profit to the current HDM producers. Most of the level headed HD-DVD owners are expected to go Blu albeit with a tear in their eye. They ultimately crave quality HD content and never saw the format war as a religious jihad. Where does this leave us?
Why should the media producers go through the expense of new HD-DVD production? Part of the market has no interest except at parity to SD prices and most of the remainder will eventually buy Blu at “normal” prices, hence the sooner the red format is buried the sooner the manufacturers can enjoy lowered production costs.
Please let me preempt some of the expected “window licker” responses (ask some of your Scottish friends, you’ll die laughing).
1. “They’ll have to peel my dead fingers from the play button…” Passionate discussions of what somebody isn’t going to do are rarely compelling.
2. “If they stop HD-DVD production that will end all competition and prices will be sky high…” I will admit that popular new releases (for those that read with their lips note the word new) will likely be a bit more expensive. All of the back catalog has intense competition: all of the existing SD DVD’s. I’ve got Star Wars three different ways; Star Wars VHS, Star Wars SE VHS and again in DVD. How many hundreds of dollars am I willing to commit to this series? Also the greedy ones have sensitized part of the market with their staged introduction approach: initial basic release followed with an enhanced version with additional content. Who wants to endure that again on a new and currently more expensive format? So yes, Bluray disk producers face considerable competition and have ample reason to keep prices low.
With HD-DVD dead, the obvious conclusion is that Blue-Ray will rule. But will it? Is it possible that the whole disc-based entertainment category will also die sooner than expected? Will web based downloads squeeze out the discs entirely?
the average joe still isnt going to buy any HD format, they still think that buying an HD television makes whatever they watch High Definition, so DVD's are still going to outsell any form of HD for a long while
I personally will download movies via itunes and watch them on the 360, i don't usually go out and buy the dvds unless it's one of those movies you have to have
yeah.... umm... good luck with playing that on the 360.
it'll work if you have a mac computer and connect 360
To play down the PS3 as a Blu Ray player is totally foolish . I am an owner of a PS3 and have bought about 20 Blu Ray movies in the month of February. I believe that there are many more people like me who see the PS3 as more than a game machine but the main device in their entertainment center ! Can you imagine the amount of movies that were HD DVD exclusive and now should be making their way to Blu Ray . This is a win win situation for consumers and for movie studios(You think that Paramount isn't salivating about a chance to release Transformers onto the Blu Ray community ).The prices of players will drop due to hardware companies ( and I am sure Toshiba will join eventually ) competing with each other .
Re Flashpoint
Actually Sony PS3 might have helped BluRay (on disks) make m0ney but it didnt help SONY sell PS3. The PS3 itself, last time I looked, was a financial sinkhole being smoked by XBOX 360 BECAUSE of the expensive inclusion of the BluRay. Remember the guy responsible for the design (and the previous incarnations) resigned from Sony in shame? Microsoft played it smart and outsold Sony left and right on consoles (and games) and Sony was LOSING money on PS3 consoles. Nope, points to MSFT for playing it smart.
you are completely oblivious to the real world, arent you?
sony took a gamble including bd in the ps3 in relation to movies... but not in relation to games. blu-ray is an excellent choice for gaming consoles as it allowed a ton of room for devs to use (dvd is starting to become restrictive for most game developers... just look at gta for example) . regardless of which way the format wars turned out, the games would benefit.
but now that blu-ray has won... sony has an even greater advantage. with the ps3... you now get a blu-ray player that is solidified as the next gen format and future proof... a media center capable of pulling media from all around your home wirelessly or stored on the included hdd... and a game console. they gambled... but now sony is holding the trump card.
but, if you are unintelligent enough to believe that america = worldwide sales (as the ps3 has been outselling the 360 globally for quite some time now), then you probably wont understand anything i just typed either... so carry on with your blissful ignorance.
So are you just a rude fanboy asshole who cant express an intelligent point w/out being an ass? Get out of the basement mush loser?
So far you've called me names twice. Let me break it down to basement dweller. Im an ADULT who pays attention to trends. Sony didnt take a 'risk'...Thats why the man responsible RESIGNED IN SHAME. You're the naive idiot...now go play with your Yugi Oh cards and let the adults talk, jackass. No, better yet...if this is the type of personality impaired inbred that populates this place I think I'll leave it to you. Dont respond..just go back in the basement and hang with your other socially impaired friends (or are they still called 'action figures'?).
Just once Id love to run in to one you gap toothed, mealy mouth trash talking acne farmers on the street but that would require you climbing in to 'the light'.
Im out of here, teh smell of unwashed gamer is overwhelming....
You know, I am tired of hearing what it's costing 'poor' Toshiba to stop making HD-DVD players. I want to know what this stupid game cost consumers in the end. Let's see some numbers about that.
It makes me freaking sick to think that this thing was decided by some jerk-offs from Sony writing a check to Warner at a Score's in Las Vegas a month ago. I'm in the same boat as a previous poster...I have a $200 worthless box of plastic attached to my 360.
Sure, someone was going to win in the end, but it would be nice if it was a fair battle that didn't just finish overnight. Why didn't Sony write those checks a couple of years ago and none of this would have happened. I really don't care which format won until I invested in one of them.
Bitter? You bet...it's ridiculous.
December 2007 - HD-DVD totally viable and moving along nicely.
February 2008 - HD-DVD a laughable choice akin to an 8-Track player, Betamx, or Laserdisc player. All of them products that were allowed to coexist with other technologies for years before the market spoke.
Regardless of who "wins" HD films will be downloaded and viewed locally as opposed to buying and renting physical media.
Songs are downloaded and bought and films will go the same way.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is just a money making scheme and a complete waste of time.
Sony needs to re-hire the guy that made the PS3 and increase his pay for being a Genious and looking into the future. It looks like he was right all along, now PS3 is making a profit, has won the format war, and will soon be everybodies center piece for their entertainment center. PS3 hooked to a XBR LCD = perfection!
Microsoft killed HD-DVD when they were too cheap to build it into the machine, everything about the X-box360 is cheap and un refined, just like the power brick, or the clunky contollers and seperate charger stations, no built in wireless, no blue tooth..... I know, I have both and side by side the xbox looks like a mustang sitting next to a Lambo! way out classed!
I always hoped it would come down to be like DVD+R and DVD-R did, especially with a couple of HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo readers out there for fairly cheap, but i still don't see Blu-Ray winning over the data market anytime soon like DVDs did, unless HD-DVDs are going to go to data storage, i wouldnt mind a 25gb DVD...but as for blu-ray for storage, who the hell can afford $20 for ONE blu-ray disk + the $200+ burner and the fact that it takes HOURS to burn? Not me...HD is a rip, ill stick with my SD and regular DVDs...lest we forget that there are STILL VHS tapes and VCRs being produced and sold...
I see that $ is the only motivating factor! We will all need to buy new equipment? Three hundred for a Player.Question,how much are the Writers? Does the software we all now use,ie,Nero,DVD decypter,work on the Blu? Will you be able to copy and save the files or are they encrypted so that SOny gets what they have wanted more than anything,the copy proof system? Seems as though the size problem never bothered me.I was renting HD-DVD's and the movie always fit on the dics?
Quality= same
Costs= DVD less
Equipment in our homes=DVD's
Equipment in Computers= DVD
Copy DVD'S=Yes
Copy Blu=No
If we just form a union that tells the BIG GUYS,we will not be led to the bank,thanks anyway!
We American's need to start thinking.
People, people, people ... there are no winners in the format war ... only deferred losers. BD-ROM as a disc format won't mean diddley squat when all movies are downloaded on demand from online services (TWC, U-verse, iTunes, netflix, etc, etc).
"Don't blame me, _I_ voted for Kodos!"
Extremely comical the puffing and thumping of chests.
Its a format, geeks.
(note: I don't own either)
Now that Blu Ray won, all you blu ray fanboys can sit back and enjoy the fact that sony's DRM and self destructing players will put one more nail in your coffin of human rights. But hey, who cares about that when you can have more capacity. DUMBASS'S!
Kinda funny how when micrsoft came up with vc1, everyone knew hd-dvd was superior in picture quality, yet all the sudden, blu ray picks up vc-1 support. The only suckers here in the HD-DVD camp are the ones that have to switch to blu ray and its nazi protection schemes.
I hope all you blu ray fanboys are happy now. Youve traded any chance of being able to backup a movie for the sake of (slighty more) disk space. Nothing like being treated like a criminal by sony to make you want to own a blu ray player right? Cant wait till some blu -ray players start self-destructing because someone tried to mod their player. (google self destruct blu ray player). All I see here is more blind sheep being led off the cliffs by corporate greed, aka SONY. You mororns will never learn. Tomorrow you can go back to your cubicle and brag about how your precious blu ray won the format war. Someday you will realize (but doubtfull) that your rights as a citizen far outweigh any increase in disk space. And aint it funny everyone agreee'd the HD-DVD picture was better than blu-ray using VC-1, and lo and behold, sony supports vc-1 on the blu-ray. SONY IS A JOKE AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. The only usefull thing they make is in commercial broadcast equipment. The rest is pure crap.
AHA! Finally Bill Gates loses one (two if you count the botched Yahoo takeover) AND Sony gets it right. I think it is funny to see some of the articles regarding this war of format. One is from an old guy who was around in the 80's for the VHS/BETA war and got screwed again based on HDDVD/BLURAY.
http://www.socoolaz.com/article.cfm?articleID=30121