Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 07 January 2008 10:15
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Can HD DVD withstand the stunning news that Warner has ditched the
format and has decided to issue movies from May 2008 on Blu-ray only?
HD DVD may take on a new meaning in 2008 after Warner’s decision to back Blu-ray exclusively from May ’08 onwards, ensuring that 70% of major movie studios are now firmly lined up behind Sony’s Blu-ray format.
Although Toshiba are putting on a brave face at the 2008 CES now underway in Las Vegas, unless Toshiba have one last rabbit to pull out of their hat, the HD in HD DVD could instead start standing for ‘highly doubtful', ‘huge disaster’, ‘hefty disappointment’, ‘horrible decision’ or ‘hopelessly defeated’.
Still, Toshiba isn’t giving up the fight yet and their next move is now the
subject of much speculation.
An
IDG report
quotes Akio Ozaka, the head of Toshiba America Consumer Products, as
saying that: “We remain firm in the belief that HD DVD is the format
best suited to the wants and needs of consumers. We are especially
surprised that this decision was made in spite of the significant
momentum that HD DVD has gained in the U.S. market and other regions."
IDG also quoted Jodi Sally, the VP of marketing for digital audio and
video products for Toshiba America, saying that: “As you can imagine
this is a tough day for me. It's difficult for me to read all the
pundits declare that HD DVD is dead. Clearly the events of the last few
days have led you to that conclusion but we've been declared dead
before.”
At stake in the format war is one simple thing: money. Sony and Philips originally co-created the CD format, and together enjoyed a lucrative royalty stream for over 20 years – and the battle has been on ever since to be the major royalty recipient from any future dominant media format.
That’s why the world suffered the DVD+R and DVD-R battles, one which was ultimately won by dual-format players that eliminated the retail horror of seeing a hapless ‘sales assistant’ trying to explain the differences between the two.
Now there's nothing wrong with wanting to make money, and competition is good, but it seems a fact of life that consumers will always get caught up in the middle. Format war is hell, after all.
So, with Blu-ray and HD DVD, Sony and Toshiba have lined up on opposite sides of the OK Corral in a fight to the death for video dominance – and a rich royalty profit stream from movie studios, hardware makers and ultimately – consumers.
And, although each side scored so-called ‘death blows’ on the other, what at first looked like mortal wounds with blood spraying everywhere soon showed themselves to only be flesh wounds that clotted rapidly, giving neither side the true ‘one up’ over the other that would ‘end the war’.
Now, the latest ‘death blow’ is Warner’s latest move to exclusively back Blu-ray, tipping the balance firmly into Blu-ray’s favour – with only Paramount and Universal the two ‘major’ studios left backing HD DVD technology until reportedly at least the end of 2008.
Toshiba claims 1 million HD DVD players sold in the US alone, and strong momentum in sales over the last quarter - but clearly this wasn't enough for Warner. What now for Toshiba? Please read onto page 2 for the conclusion...
