n February 19, 2008, Toshiba announced that it was to drop its format in the HD DVD 'war' with Sony and Pioneer-backed Blu-ray Disc devices. Following a review of its business, Toshiba said it would stop production of HD DVD players and recorders.
The HD DVD format had suffered as most of the major US film studios backed the Blu-ray format, which was developed by Sony, Panasonic, Philips and others. Toshiba's President, Atsutoshi Nishida, announced "We concluded that a swift decision would be best if we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win".
Toshiba continued to supply retailers with machines until the end of March 2008, and continued to provide technical support to the estimated one million people worldwide who owned HD DVD players and recorders. Toshiba has announced a new line of stand-alone Blu-ray players as well as drives for PCs and laptops, and has announced its intention to join the BDA, the industry body which oversees development of the Blu-ray format.
The HD DVD versus Blu-ray battle has been likened to the VHS versus Betamax war of the 1980s.