Almost seven-year format war is over. Toshiba, the primary backer of the HD DVD format, which has been defeated after a number the largest movie studios (e.g. Warner Brothers) and U.S. rental services and retailers announced the exclusive support for Sony backed Blu-ray products, finally decided to join Blu-ray group.
“In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA,” says the company’s brief statement.
Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year.
The first rumors of the company’s new HD strategy appeared in June this year, when the Toshiba’s president, Atsutoshi Nishida, told shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting in Tokio, that the company is considering making Blu-ray products.
Later, at the end of July, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun raported that Toshiba would introduce a Blu-ray player called BD-18 before the end of the year. Thus the latest company’s announcement didn’t surprise anyone at the HD market. The decision to support Blu-ray format is considered a good (and the only logical) business move.
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