BusinessWeek Online has learned that Sony is about to take a serious blow in the fight over Blu-ray versus HD DVD. Apparently an announcement is in the works for sometime next week, that 3 major motion picture studios are throwing thier weight behind Toshibas HD DVD.
Toshiba acknowledged that it has "been receiving a positive response from several studios" but that it "is not in a position to comment on behalf of the studios." |
According to the report, it seems the studios are concerned about the cost of adopting the Blu-ray format. The reasoning behind their decision is that it would require new manufacturing plants and equipment to produce the Blu-ray product, therefore they feel that at least initially, the cost to produce the discs will be too high. Whereas the Toshiba disc, is similar enough to the existing DVD technology they are predicting it will to be cheaper to produce.
Toshiba is also claiming that they can make HD DVDs disks for approximately the same price as current DVDs. They have also said that HD DVD players will be introduced in the U.S. later next year. As icing on the cake, HD DVD players would be able to play current DVDs as well as those in high-definition. Not giving up so easy, Sony is assuring that it can cut manufacturing costs and is working towards the same backwards capability.
Well, here we go again! It's another format war.
Source: Yahoo!
