Wal-Mart Decision Probably Dooms HD DVD

News: February 16, 2008

Retail giant Wal-Mart has announced it will phase out sales of HD DVD in its stores over the next few months. This comes on the heels of recent decisions by Best Buy and Netflix to opt for Blu-ray over HD DVD, and these follow in the wake of Warner Brothers' announcement they will stop releasing movies on HD DVD. With big American retailers abandoning HD DVD and only two of the six major studios backing it, most observers are predicting the death of HD DVD. Although there is no official word from Toshiba, reports abound that the Japanese electronics maker is considering getting out of the next-generation DVD business. If you were thinking of purchasing an HD DVD player, it certainly would be prudent to wait, and in the meantime you can start looking at Blu-ray players. If you already own an HD DVD player, perhaps you can take some comfort in the fact that it can be used to play regular DVDs.

Update: February 19, 2008
Toshiba Quits HD DVD and Blu-ray Wins Format War