CES: Toshiba vows to back HD DVD without Warner

Manufacturer says 1 million players are in homes

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/6/2008

JAN. 6 | LAS VEGAS—Toshiba expressed some shock over Warner Bros. Entertaiment’s dropping support of HD DVD, but said it was not giving up on the format, during a Sunday press conference on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Toshiba president and CEO Akio Ozaka opened the session noting that HD DVD titles enjoyed their strongest sales in the recent fourth quarter.

“This is why we’re surprised about Warner’s plan to abandon HD DVD,” said Ozaka. “They made this decision despite the significant momentum HD DVD has made. We are in the belief that HD DVD is a format that best suits the needs of consumers.

HD DVD players, including stand-alones and Xbox 360 drives, have sold 1 million units to date since launch, proof of the format’s strength, added Toshiba VP of marketing Jodi Sally.

Sally admitted being saddened by Warner’s exit from HD DVD.

“This is a tough day for me,” she said. “I fully expected to share with you past successes of HD DVD. But the events of the last few days have shifted my comments. I firmly believe that HD is the best format for consumers.”

She called out the continued distinction that HD DVD enjoys over Blu-ray Disc with the only released software with Web-enabled features. Due mostly, to relatively cheaper pricing, Toshiba stand-alone players were dominant over Blu-ray set-tops during Black Friday week.

She indicated Toshiba would continue marketing its HD DVD hardware through 2008.

“The pundits are declaring the format dead, but we’ve been declared dead before,” Sally said.