Toshiba, the creators of HD-DVD, are stopping the production of HD-DVD players. Do you know what this means? Blu-Ray has won the format war.
For the moment, HD-DVD players will still be in stores, and will continue to sell what equipment they already have, but with no more being made, Toshiba are going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars by shutting down the production of the HD-DVD players and recorders. Toshiba are expected to officially announce the news soon – and to start making Blu-Ray players (oh, the irony!).
Sony must be partying right about now – they made a terrific gamble by putting Blu-Ray into the PS3, which could have caused major problems if the format had failed. Now Blu-Ray has won, the future is bright for Sony, and hopefully this is the first in a long line of victories for them.
Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks and The Weinstein Company are expected to drop HD-DVD and announce their support for Blu-Ray, as the format will not be able to sustain itself without the support of its creator, Toshiba. Finally, consumers will not have to choose which format to buy.
