HD DVD sales plummet
IN THE WEEK after the Warner film studio announced on January 4th that it would no longer release movies in HD DVD format, consumer retail sales of HD DVD discs plummeted, according to market analysis company NPD Group as reported by the New York Times.
Toshiba, which builds HD DVD players, doesn't think the one-week drop in sales is significant. It pointed out that it had just ended a Christmas discount and that players for the competing Blu-ray DVD discs were being given away during that week to buyers of certain flat panel TVs.
NPD Group VP Stephen Baker didn't think too much should be read into just one week's sales results. He said, "One week is not a trend. It's a data point."
But, post-holiday slump or not, Toshiba cut the price of its HD DVD player in half, from $300 to $150. Blu-ray DVD players are still priced at around $300.
Toshiba will also be running TV ads next Sunday during the Superbowl for its HD DVD players.
This might work out something like the VHS versus Betamax VCR cassette war did all those years ago, but we don't think this battle is anywhere near over yet. µ
L'INQ
New
York Times
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I for one will not be buying until there is only one standard. I don't want to have to rebuy disks after picking the wrong technology.
"but we don't think this battle is anywhere near over yet."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=32482

The ball is already rolling, and nothing can stop it, even Toshiba's vein attempts at trying to clear it's inventory out at rock bottom prices..
If you buy a player and some discs now, they'll still work if the format doesn't 'win'. The only downside is that in a few years you may not be able to buy the movies for the 'loosing' format. In that case, you'll have to buy a new player.
--The thing is, you can now spend $150 on a player (the 'loosing' format) and in a couple of years, spend $150 on the other format. It costs no more than spending $300 now on the 'winning' format, you get twice as much hardware, and you get to watch HD now instead of waiting for the fall-out.
--Besides, factor in the cost of a HD TV and movies, and $150 to $300 (or even $450 for one of each) is peanuts, anyways.
When will it be over exactly?

Japan : HD DVD sales so insignificant even Xbox 360 is doing better.

Europe : HD DVD sales so poor that even Woolies is dropping them like a hot potato.

USA : HD-DVD sales utterly dismal, so much so that Toshiba is reduced to trying to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room when discussing sales numbers, and hoping that everyone else fails to notice the gorilla as well. Sadly the sales numbers for players and media don't lie, and no amount of spin will change them. Nor will $150 million in sweeteners help Paramount sell the sucktactular Shrek 3 on HD-DVD.

Yep, pretty much says it all. I guess that Toshiba thinks that utter humiliation in the market is better than simply admitting their failure. I'm pretty sure that's about right in terms of the way of the warrior. Why go meekly when you can make your opponent kill you. You're going to die anyway, you might as well take some of them with you, right?

Toshiba are miffed because they lost, and they know they lost. Instead of admitting it, they are trying to go out in a blaze of glory. Pity it's going across like a flare of infamy.
If Blu-ray wins, then it will mean that John Dvorak was wrong about something, and the world as I know it will come to an end.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1750098,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000585
What about Video 2000? :(
Its really a battle of marketing will rather than technical supremacy. The losers are the consumers -- or rather those consumers that can be bothered to participate.

Most people don't get much, if any, benefit from HD in any format. Although many people that I know, for example, have modern TVs I don't know anyone who has a disc player of either format (apart from myself). There just isn't enough media out there to get critical mass -- and if that media turns out to be incompatible with the other players that people have then its more trouble than its worth.
During the time period in question, Blu-ray players were free with any large Sony TV.

This is exactly the same as the surge in PS3 game sales when Sony gave the PS3 away for free with their big TVs.