Toshiba terminates HD DVD, surrenders to Blu-ray

As expected, Toshiba pulled the plug on HD DVD today. The PS3 as a next-gen movie player just got a lot more compelling.

The PS3 sees a spike in value

The PS3 sees a spike in value

Toshiba on Tuesday said it will end the sale of all HD DVD players by March "following recent major changes in the market," aka the exodus of HD DVD movie studios to Blu-ray.

"We carefully assessed the long term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Toshiba CEO Atsutoshi Nishida. The company will, however, continue to support existing HD DVD product warranties.

And while Nishida concedes defeat in the optical HD war, he's keeping hope alive for digital distribution.

"While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology, and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality," he said.

The news marks a sizable victory for Sony's PlayStation 3, which doubles as a Blu-ray player. In January, the PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 for the first time in the U.S., according to NPD data.

Microsoft on Monday said the looming failure of HD DVD would not hurt Xbox 360 sales. "We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace," the company said.

"As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry."

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