http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_02/pr1903.htm
TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough
review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer
develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision
has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will
continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service
for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to
high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital
convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will
continue to progress.
"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 Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of
Toshiba Corporation. "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."
Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies
that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include
high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next
generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption
technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around
strategic progress in these convergence technologies.
Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to
retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of
March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk
drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet
will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company
will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD
drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and
the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders.
Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD
industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with
some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of
optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.
Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies
who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including
Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major
Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well
as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba
will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business
opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development
of HD DVD.
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