Toshiba Pulls the Plug on the HD DVD

In the past few years, both Blu-Ray and HD DVD have been competing against each other to be able to become the standard high definition video format. The format war began in 2006 and will ultimately come to an end in 2008. Many news sources, such as Reuters and the LA Times, have reported that Toshiba will officially pull the plug on it's HD DVD products. The consequences and effects of the discontinuation of the HD DVD format are shown below.

The most obvious consequence of HD DVD's exit of the market will be, in many people's eyes, putting the Blu-Ray as the only major contender in being the major next-generation video format. Many people who like to "be in the know" will purchase a Blu-Ray player along with several Blu-Ray discs. Beliefs of the Blu-Ray securing the next-generation video format are incorrect, however.

Even with HD-DVD's departure, Blu-Ray will still have to battle it out with two other major competitors. The one well-known competitor is the DVD. A majority of people in the US currently do not have the personal resources to start a new video collection and buy a new video player. They will continue supporting the DVD format by purchasing DVD's. This will assure a long-fight between the DVD and the Blu-Ray, and the outcome cannot be predicted. Who knows, the Blu-Ray may disappear just as the HD-DVD did? The other competitor, digital video, has been quickly picking up steam. Large online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix have recently been betting on the future of video to be digital. Both iTunes and Amazon offer an extremely large quantity of digital rentals and purchases. Netflix offers unlimited movie streaming for it's members. The increased interest in digital video between consumers, retailers, and studios may put the future of video in a place many people have never expected it to be. With the increased support for digital video's and Blu-Ray's, and the stable support for DVD's, it is currently impossible to predict the future of video.

Current HD DVD consumers will soon have to find an alternative for watching new videos. HD DVD consumers that still have their DVD players and their DVD collections will likely switch back to the DVD format. Consumers that already broke their budget by supporting the HD DVD format will likely switch to the digital video format as it requires no upfront costs if you own a computer. Only a marginal amount of HD DVD users will switch to the Blu-Ray format in fear that it will also be abandoned in the future.

As shown above, Toshiba's withdrawal from the video format war will not help secure the Blu-Ray as the standard next-generation video format.