Toshiba Throws in HD Towel

Rival Blu-ray wins the battle of high-def movie formats

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 19, 2008 3:30 AM CST

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Toshiba Throws in HD Towel — Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing for Toshiba, speaks about Toshiba's HD DVD and other Blu-Ray players at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008 before the start of the convention on Monday. Toshiba Corp. executives had a tough moment Sunday, when they had to face... (Associated Press)

Toshiba is quitting the HD DVD player business after taking a licking in the protracted market competition, the company announced today. Toshiba's exit, which leaves Blu-ray's technology alone at the vanguard of digital video, comes after Warner Brothers joined the crowd of Blu-ray backers, leaving HD DVD in the cold, AP reports.

The company's president cited the need to avoid fracturing the market with mutually incompatible technologies as a main reason for Toshiba's withdrawal. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win," he said. Toshiba is assuring existing customers that technical support won't stop when sales do. (More Toshiba stories.)

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