Toshiba responds to 'HD DVD is dead' rumors
by Dustin Burg 
{ Feb 18th 2008 at 11:30AM }
Let's be honest guys, it hasn't been the best week for team HD DVD. Retailers have been dropping support left and right, wild speculation has been running rampant across the internets and Engadget even put HD DVD on their "death watch" list. Ouch. Rumors have even been swirling that Toshiba will be announcing the death of HD DVD as early as sometime this week. But we're guessing Toshiba isn't ready to pull the plug yet as earlier this morning they put out a statement regarding that rumor saying that "the media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business" but "Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this." They go on to say that "although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment." Toshiba also confirmed that Toshiba likes to refer to itself in third person.So, there you have it. Toshiba isn't throwing in the towel just yet or they simply aren't ready to announce that they will be throwing in the towel. Still no answers and all bad news for HD DVD ... humph.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
evilJaze @ Feb 18th 2008 11:33AM
Big deal. Large corporations never confirm rumours. Ever.
ymmv @ Feb 18th 2008 11:38AM
Yep. The interesting thing is how they don't deny the rumor, they just don't want to confirm it at this moment. I bet there's a contingent of lawyers at Toshiba HQ going through the Universal, Paramount and MS contracts right now.
Boff @ Feb 18th 2008 11:49AM
My thoughts exactly. They never actually say that "Toshiba will continue it's HD-DVD business."
But they do say "Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment."
Which basically means 'We are getting rid of the dead wood but want to keep it quiet for as long as possible so we can sell a few more HD-DVDs before the plug is pulled.'
Dragod @ Feb 18th 2008 11:47AM
You watch.. HD-DVD's going to come back... People are buying it more than ever with all the recent price drops :P
I wouldn't be surprised if the price drops saved the format, and forced publishers to reassess their stance on supporting HD-DVD.
Boff @ Feb 18th 2008 11:51AM
It'll be the biggest comeback since Rocky fought Ivan Drago!
Sacredleader @ Feb 18th 2008 11:48AM
Toshiba may not be throwing in the towel just yet, but that towel might as well be in a Matrix like slow mo mode in mid-air until it hits the ground. Ouch!
Bravo6 @ Feb 18th 2008 12:00PM
There's also no GoW 2 in the works.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 12:18PM
Who says bravo last i heard nothing was mentioned about gears2 at gdc.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 12:01PM
I think as a storage format hddvd could succeed as the burners im sure could be made cheap enough and the media itself is cheap enough.Then you would have people burning hddvd movies copied from blurays etc and then toshiba could say screw you sony and screw the studios.
sell hddvd players and burners and recordable hddvd discs and that could work.Let the people steal this shit from the studios that wronged them they will still make a profit.
Tony @ Feb 18th 2008 12:02PM
I was thinking this too. It's cheap to manufacture, it holds a decent amount... if not on a consumer level, then perhaps on a commercial level.
HD-DVD does have other purposes beyond movies.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 12:18PM
Look at it like this.If they develop it primarily for a storage medium.By the time microsoft releases another console.Maybe they could intergrate it as a gaming storage medium.If its successful in the storage and burning world by 2011 ms maybe would use it for there games instead of supplying sony with there money.That would do two things.
They know people would be using it to burn hd movies by then so that would kill bluray somewhat and also it would be a great gaming storage format and sony wouldnt make a dolllar off ms.
Its a good strategy i think.It will also push more people towards digital downloads and get them used to the concept.
thadwhit @ Feb 18th 2008 12:21PM
It would be bad business to confirm the death of your media player and then try to sell more players for another month or so. Look for cheap fire sales and stores dumping out their stock of HD DVD players and movies, and then Toshiba will announce that they are giving up.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 12:26PM
no no no.Its simple enough to throw burners on the market for cheap money.As dfar as i know its impossible to find bluray burners and if you could they would be super expensive.The best strategy would be to push a hddvd burner to the market for two reasons.
People would be able to burn hd 1080p movies and that would kill studios.Then maybe sony would follow suite and destroy themselves in the process.Toshiba has nothing to lose with no studio support but sony throwing a cheap bluray burner on the market to kill toshiba would cause havoc to there marketing and sales of movies killing the format.Kinda llike what happened to the dreamcast with burned games.People would be burning blurays weather on hddvd discs or on bluray discs.
This could be a really good strategy one i would jump on.If i was toshiba i would take em all down with me.
Bac0nator @ Feb 18th 2008 12:34PM
Does anyone even buy movies anymore???
thadwhit @ Feb 18th 2008 12:38PM
Some people obviously do, but I don't see why they bother. I'd rather just use a service like Netflix, view movies and shows in Hi Def, and then move on. I'm not likely to watch something over and over, and I doubt most adults do, they just like to collect things.
Bac0nator @ Feb 18th 2008 12:41PM
I agree, I find myself buying new seasons of shows like the simpsons just because i already have the older seasons. I end up putting it on the shelf with my collection and never watching it. Weird eh?
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 12:51PM
I got a brother in law like that.Loads of dvds half he has never watched and probably never will.I myself like to download rips off utorrent and screeners etc.I get my hddvd rip and bluray rips in 1080p and stream em to my tv thru 360.The 360 never needed a hd player built in its ability to stream hd doesnt hold it to one format.Alot of people dont understand that.Bluray may be good for a gaming aspect but when you got people already ripping blurays to wmv in 1080p there isnt much of a quality diffrence believe me i know.I have tested my theory on a ps3 between a ripped bluray wmv file and a bluray on the same tv which was a sharp aquo's 32" lcd.
Thsi is what bluray is gonna have to deal with and there just isnt money in physical media anymore with shit like xbox 360 on the market and people that have the brains to know how to use the shit.
The Sound @ Feb 18th 2008 1:05PM
I wonder how long it will take you to realize that there is no way (currently) to duplicate a Blu-ray movie and copy it to a computer.
HD-DVD was the only one to be crack, which is probably why it ended up loosing.
Ripping to WMV is a stupid, stupid idea. There are many other better formats to do it.
Oh, and responding to another comment, SONY does NOT own Blu-ray.
Seriously, why all the SONY hate? Honestly, you act like they killed your brother and dog, kidnapped your mother, and burned your house down. Sheesh, it's only a company, and even if you don't like them, you don't need to get all worked up over it.
refinedsugar @ Feb 18th 2008 1:09PM
It's too bad. Cheap(er), efficient hardware and media, finalized format specs ... oh well, it was an uphill battle from the start. Blu-ray had better get their shit together.
Oorang @ Feb 18th 2008 1:11PM
"The Sound said...
I wonder how long it will take you to realize that there is no way (currently) to duplicate a Blu-ray movie and copy it to a computer"
I think you'll find that statement to be wholly inaccurate...
Gabriel @ Feb 18th 2008 1:31PM
I posted on Joystiq that the headline that seemingly confirmed that Toshiba was dropping HD-DVD was irresponsible, since there was no official statement regarding such a decision from Toshiba. I think a lot of rumors have killed HD-DVD in a lot of people's minds, though, since many believe that everything they hear on the internet is true. The fact is, NBC-Universal is still deeply invested in HD-DVD and might not be so quick to back out. Now, knowing my luck, NBC-Universal will drop a Blu-ray bomb tomorrow, aming me look like an idiot, but all indications from them have shown that they are exclusively backing HD-DVD. NBC-Universal does need to hurry up and give their writers what they want, though, so they can hurry up and strengthen the NBC-Universal HD-DVD catalog. Warner Brothers has also mentioned that, although they are technically Blu-ray exclusive now, they might release some additional HD-DVD titles even after the cut-off date if they feel there is demand for it. Funny none of these know-it-all tech and gaming sites mentioned that. It's not a firm backing, for sure, but it's better than the status of being completely dropped.
*If you haven't purchased an HD player yet, Samsung has a Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo player that supports the unique feature of each format. This is definitely a plus for those who lik thebetter Web 2.0 features of HD-DVD but want the studio backing of Blu-ray as well. If you haven't made the jump to HD yet, don't feel pressured. I think the industry is rushing a little too much at this point. There are several other formats that are currently in development and they could be out in two to four years. DVD had a lot more time than that before the "next-gen" formats came out.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 1:50PM
@Sound
Yes you can rip blurays its being done search piratebay etc.I just got surfsup bluray 1080p for my neice she loves it.As for huge downloads you do know that bluray discs dont use 50gb for movies they use approximatly 15gbs without xtra content.So that actual video is 15gb thats nothing on a fiber optic connection a few hours download average better than dropping 30 dollars.As for xtra content i never cared for it but if you fancy that you can download that too.
blurays and hddvds are already being ripped and streamed its the wave of the future.Physical media is all in the past look at cd sales now compared to 10 years ago.Movies on dvd are the same and its only gonna get worse.How many times have you rented dvds and seen the ad from the studios about pirating?
if it wasnt that big of a deal that wouldn't bother.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 1:58PM
also sound whats bad about wmv?Its a great codec its not mkv but the hd wmv's are outstanding and there a standard anywhere you go online.My 360 plays them beautifully streamed in 1080p thru hdmi to my pioneer elite.
You gotta except it because like i said its the future.Bill gates is the richest man alive and pretty much the smartest man alive buisness wise he knows what hes doing.He even stated digital media transfer is the future.
ps3 reminds me of linux.Its claimed to be almighty but in reality it will go nowhere.It may be selling well in europe and japan thats only becuase the world has a vendetta against anything american.Thats all fine but there the ones that shall miss out.Every person i know that owns both consoles prefers 360 to ps3 for gaming.
The others online that claim they own both are liars you cant enjoy something that offers less from a gaming perspective.
Stranger @ Feb 18th 2008 8:00PM
Just because the consumer HD-DVD is dead doesn't necessarily mean that the medium is completely shot.
Beta, for example, has lived on as a professional tape format for all kinds of commercial video production to this very day, No reason HD-DVD couldn't live on in the same way.