Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday it would still like to develop a unified format for advanced optical DVD discs, but two competing — and incompatible — products are likely to hit the market at first.
Toshiba is a leading proponent of next-generation HD DVD optical disc technology, which competes with the Blu-ray standard promoted by Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research), a maker of Panasonic brand electronics.
“We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise,” Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told an annual shareholders’ meeting.
The failure of the two groups to settle on a unified format has resulted in a costly battle similar to the VHS-Betamax war that caused widespread consumer confusion in the late 1970s and mid-1980s.
It’s the corporation that will lose out on big $$ while people wait and see which format sticks. It hurts themselves a lot too!
No kidding there is always some kind of format war betamax and vhs DVD+R and DVD-R now it’s this. This is ridiculous.