Although HD-DVD has struggled with film sales (due there not being many new releases) they are now starting to move forward in a big way. There are some great new titles and box sets and the hardware is dropping in price. 

With the introduction of the cheaper players like Venturer, HD-DVD is making a strong stand. If it wasn't for the PS3 I doubt Sony would have such a good market, with their BD players costing at least twice as much as HD-DVD. It's going to be an interesting 6 months

At the stores I've been to recently the Toshiba HD-DVD players have been selling quite well. One reason may be price -- you've got a pile of DH-DVD players priced around $150 next to a pile of BluRays at $450. Toshiba already cleared their previous model by pricing it at $100.
I'm going to guess that this one's going to be won on volume, not technology. The average user doesn't want to spend a fortune on a player and they're mostly disinterested in gimmicks, they just want the thing to work. (Ask the wife....)

(You may recall that the Betamax tape system was far, far, superior than VHS -- better recordings, better sound, smaller tapes, you name it. It didn't stop Betamax from losing out.)

BTW. The Toshiba HD-DVD player runs Linux. Anyone up for a hack or two?

considering HD DVD dosent lead in a single country then perhaps gimmicks is the only chance they have of beating out blu ray. 

Oh well, at least for trek fans they will have a rare collectors item in a few years. could be a money maker.

Where's the link??