Warner Bros has announced that they will withdraw their support for the HD DVD format and will release their hi-def titles in Blu-Ray only from June onwards. In a statement, Warner Bros' Kevin Tsujihara said:
"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry. Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."
That says pretty conclusively that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD and Warners' decision means that Blue-ray now has 70% of the studios onboard (Sony, Disney, Warner Bros., Fox, MGM and Lionsgate), with HD DVD possessing just 30% (Paramount/DreamWorks, Universal). HD DVD's studios have an exclusivity contract that runs through 2008, so they couldn't switch to Blu-ray until then, if they wanted to.
This would seems to spell the end for HD DVD as a contender in the hi-def DVD war. Typically, only one format can survive in these situations. So will HD DVD be going the way of Betamax?