Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo

Engadget Japan is live at Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo right now. It's nearing 5PM, when the bell is expected to toll for HD DVD, and we can all move on with our new lives as Blu-ray (or download) buying consumers. It won't be in the usual second-by-second coverage, but we'll do our best to have live updates as they come in, so check back to this post.

IT'S OVER! The release just hit the wires even before Toshiba started talking. "Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses."

5:00PM - Right on time, Toshiba's president, Nishida-san, takes the podium. He is talking about how great and advanced HD DVD was. WAS. He is also speaking about how Toshiba shared a good partnership with Warner. "There was a difficult decision. Multiple standards have a huge impact on consumers."

5:15 - Now he's just reading from the release, more or less. They're on to bigger and better things: two new NAND factories in Japan, one will be jointly-operated with SanDisk.

5:21 - Q&A time!

Three part Q: what was the cause of HD DVD's failure? What is Toshiba doing with its Aomori HD DVD factory? And what about the timing of the announcement?
A: From an objective, fair point of view, we were clearly in a good place until last December and January. So we were very, very surprised by Warner's announcement. As for the Aomori factory, nothing is final at this moment.

Q: Any plans to adopt Blu-ray?
A: No plans at all, not at this moment.

More after the break.

Q: Are there no plans for next gen optical disc at all?
A: We don't have any plans to announce at this time.

Q: Is there any risk of a class action lawsuit against Toshiba for the format war?
A: [For early adopters] there will be always be a risk in buying, that is how it works in the US. We are just hardware maker, so our legal risk is relatively low, we believe.

Q: What is the next-gen NAND flash memory you'll be producing? What does that mean, exactly?
A: 3D NAND is a possible candidate, but just one of them. To avoid any confusion, we cannot say which next-gen memory technology Toshiba will choose to pursue. Nothing is final.

Nishida-san's now answering why the construction will take such long time on the new factory, explaining about how its construction will make it virtually earthquake-proof.

Q: How about the process size of new factory? Is that 32nm?
A: I can't answer that. [laughs]

Q: How many HD DVD players and recorders, exactly, did you sell?
A: 600,000 players in the US and 300,000 Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 1,030,000 units worldwide.

With regard to future media availability, should disc companies will cease production (oh they will!) Toshiba will buy enough discs for current Japanese HD DVD recorder users and resell them online. Now Nishida is talking about how upconverted DVD still looks great.

[Wilky @ Feb 19th 2008 2:51AM]

Second!!! Ah, shit...

[thethirdmoose @ Feb 19th 2008 9:45AM]

Hey, at least you weren't first...

[Andrew @ Feb 21st 2008 12:07AM]

This morning the transcript above quoted Nishida-san as saying there were 730k units worldwide, and now Engadget has changed it to 1.3 million. What is going on here?

Lord knows Engadget doesn't have high journalistic standards, but this is either a blatant lie by fudging the numbers or they severely mistranslated. I have a feeling it's not just a mistranslation, since I'm pretty sure there's a pretty big difference in the way 730k and 1.3m sound in Japanese...

No more LIES please...

(Go Blu!)

[EatingPie @ Feb 19th 2008 2:07PM]

A Lie is a DELIBERATE deception. Sheesh, the Internet.

Engadget is quoting Nashida-San, not making those numbers up. If there is an error -- deliberate (a lie) or not (a mistake) -- it rests on Toshiba, not Engadget.

-Pie

[viscid @ Feb 19th 2008 2:52AM]

Goodbye, HD DVD!

[stiltskin @ Feb 19th 2008 3:09AM]

So glad I own a blu-ray player.

[Balance_In_Life @ Feb 19th 2008 2:52AM]

This should be interesting to say the least. I'll go grab the popcorn.

[derX @ Feb 19th 2008 3:38AM]

I know! Who knew there was an Engadget Japan. News to me.

Oh yeah, the HD DVD thing, yeah, big surprise there.
*feigns surprise*

[Sam @ Feb 19th 2008 2:53AM]

Goodnight sweet prince.

[Gabnoj @ Feb 19th 2008 5:08AM]

Shakespeare?! On Engadget?! Almost as satisfying as the demise of HD DVD...

[Jimbo @ Feb 19th 2008 2:53AM]

No need to feel sorry for Toshi here. They not only raked in 17 billion in DVD, but manag3de the format in a way that so many fled to BDA, but also Toshiba needlessly extended this format war long after it appeared impossible for them to win, nearly a year ago. Was there a chance of a dual format ending? Perhaps, but it's been a long time since HD-DVD could be expected to outright win.

By having firesales and such, Toshiba was just adding to the number of burned customers. And prolonging a very expensive contest. Someone at Toshi deserves to take some blame for some lame decisions.

This is not a comment on which format is better. Just saying that Toshi made their bed.

[Sara @ Feb 19th 2008 2:55AM]

I can already hear the funeral march. Something along the lines of Mozart's Requiem in D minor.

[techyted @ Feb 19th 2008 2:57AM]

I've been waiting all night for this, can't wait.

[NineT9 @ Feb 19th 2008 2:57AM]

/me waits for the 'final nail in the coffin' comment :)

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 2:59AM]

Maybe they will say, "What? Give up on HD DVD? After all the trouble we've been through? You want us to quit?! Well let me tell you somethin'! We're no quitters!"

Just kidding! I hope it gives us all peace of mind so we can all move on.

[Cozmo @ Feb 19th 2008 2:59AM]

aw snap!!!1

[cesium @ Feb 19th 2008 3:00AM]

YAY theyre gone :D

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 19th 2008 3:01AM]

Well, I'm glad it's officially over. Mass adoption can now begin.

[patsy @ Feb 19th 2008 9:58AM]

Mass adoption?! Not while movies retail for $25-$30 my friend. Although the engadget crowd may feel differently on the topic--what with all that disposable income burning holes into their geek pockets--there will be no mass adoption until players sell for $99 and movies for $15 at Wal-Mart. Remember the DVD and Apex? Those cheap-ass players were what exploded the DVD market in 1999-2000. We're acting today like the DVD has been around forever, but it really hasn't been that long since its mass adoption. Then again, given the average age of the engadget reader, I guess it HAS been forever...

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:02AM]

I wish it was a joint press conference where Universal and Paramount could state that all exclusive titles to HD DVD will be readily available immediately...

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:03AM]

I wish it was a joint press conference where Universal and Paramount could state that all exclusive titles to HD DVD will be readily available immediately...

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:03AM]

I wish it was a joint press conference where Universal and Paramount could state that all exclusive titles to HD DVD will be readily available immediately...

[AlexHD @ Feb 19th 2008 4:16PM]

C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!!

[JoN @ Feb 19th 2008 3:03AM]

w00t

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:04AM]

Crap! My bad y'all, I apologize for my over zealousness with my left mouse button! =(

[cesium @ Feb 19th 2008 3:04AM]

holy triple post batman!

[Stewie @ Feb 19th 2008 3:05AM]

Woah it's like watching a train/plane/hurricane/tornado all at once

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:06AM]

Anyways, hope that all previous and future scheduled HD DVD exclusives will be made available for Blu Ray immediately. My ISP is wreaking havoc on me tonight, sorry gang! =(

[Robert Lew @ Feb 19th 2008 3:09AM]

I stayed up just to read "It's over!"

Worth it.

[Zed @ Feb 19th 2008 3:09AM]

R.I.P. HD-DVD (2006 - 2008)

[avt5000 @ Feb 19th 2008 3:11AM]

ya ni modo ahora a vender todo y comprar nuevas blue ray

[Jordan Biffle @ Feb 19th 2008 3:11AM]

I'm calling it, 5:00 p.m. Japanese time

Autopsy Report
-------------

Last Name: DVD
First Name: HD
DOB: March 31, 2006
DOD: February 19, 2008
Cause of Death: Lack of sales, lack of support, lack of titles, sucking.

[Prey521 @ Feb 19th 2008 3:40AM]

LOL good one! I agree with all but the sucking part, it anything but sucked. Also, add shitty marketing "campaign".

[Cyco @ Feb 19th 2008 3:13AM]

So how Nfinity and Truth Teller are gonna spin that one?

[Jouten @ Feb 19th 2008 3:15AM]

They will spin it as...

HD DVD is NOT DEAD! IT will become Open Source and it will become 'The People's Format'! Long Live HD DVD!

That's how I think they will 'spin' it ;)

LOL!

[Taisch @ Feb 19th 2008 3:22AM]

Out with the old, in with the Blu.

[abouttime @ Feb 19th 2008 3:26AM]

Finally a win for Sony!!!
Betamax this one's for you!!!



Betamax R.I.P. (1975-2002)

[Jake Howe @ Feb 19th 2008 5:19AM]

Betamax we always loved you. *cries*

[pilsen6 @ Feb 19th 2008 3:27AM]

Will they come out with a dual player for early adopters?

[Alex @ Feb 19th 2008 3:28AM]

You guys better ask what happens with Universal/Paramount!

[Poom @ Feb 19th 2008 3:31AM]

w00t!!!! I'm so glad it's over!!!! I can't wait for those HDDVD exclusives to be available in Blu-ray soon.

[Luis @ Feb 19th 2008 3:32AM]

give me transformers on Blu Ray!!!! I am guessing Microsoft, Universal and Paramount are all going to have announcements tomorrow. I'm glad this "war" is finally over. I picked Blu Ray right from the start, and its been hard having to wait for this thing to end. Now i can get all the great movies that were available on HD DVD.

Now that the competition is between companies on one format, lets hope prices come down, and disc prices come down sooner then they would have before. It took about 2 years for DVD to reach that 19.99 price point. I hope it doesn't take much longer than June before it gets to that for Blu Ray.

[wraith808 @ Feb 19th 2008 8:43AM]

And you could still be fooked. Depending on what they do with Profile 2.0, sony could screw early adopters- look at how fast they dropped backwards compatibility from the PS3...

[MrModern @ Feb 19th 2008 3:43AM]

WTF is NAND...and why should we be excited that they are partnering with SanDisk to make it? Hold on let me GOOGLE it...oh here it is, "A Toshiba created technology started in 1989, NAND flash devices offer storage space up to 512-MB and offers faster erase, write, and read capabilities over NOR architecture." Wait...you mean there might be another war between NAND and NOR technologies, sh*t Tosh who do you think you are starting all of these wars, the United States? Tosh...don't make another bad decision buy promoting this NAND technology, who knows what companies might support NOR over NAND and then...well you know the rest!

[Nitin Kumar @ Feb 19th 2008 5:04AM]

I found your post a bit tooooooo outdated actually.. NOR had lost the format war ages ago because of their very slow write capabilities, though very fast read compared to NAND. Just to give you an idea of where NAND and NOR is used though...

NAND... pretty much most of the solid state storage media, i.e., your SD cards, CF cards, mp3 players blah balh

NOR... the only mass application for NOR have been in mobile phones as the storage device for mobile-OS (getting replaced by NAND+DRAM hybrid solutions), storage chip on DVD players etc. for the image that you see when u switch ur DVDs.. and surprisingly low density NOR is still used for those DS-Lite game cards..

Cheers,

[Nitin Kumar @ Feb 19th 2008 5:07AM]

Thought I shud point out though...
The challenger to NAND comes in form of Phase-change RAM currently avlbl (samples) from Intel-STM JV Numonyx.

Though there can be other challenger, but they look a bit far drawn as yet.

[pilsen6 @ Feb 19th 2008 3:50AM]

Why isn't anyone asking if they will produce any dual players?

[need @ Feb 19th 2008 3:57AM]

Q: Any plans to adopt Blu-ray?
A: No plans at all, not at this moment.

[Vagn Henning @ Feb 19th 2008 4:06AM]

Because you already did!

[Silence @ Feb 19th 2008 3:57AM]

It's dead, Jim! Dead!