Toshiba Officially Announces HD-DVD Exit

Although as early as Saturday NHK had reported the decision by Toshiba to drop HD-DVD had already been made by Toshiba, the company did not publicly announce it - until today.

"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."

Ah, yes, rah rah.  We are helping the market develop!  Expect Paramount and Universal to announce Blu-ray plans soon (like today, guys?) and Microsoft and Toshiba to start working on those BRDA licenses.

Tags:  HD, Toshiba, DVD, CES, HD-DVD, OS, ally, oshiba, TOS, CIA