EON

New York – In an announcement Microsoft has announced it will cease production of external HD DVD drives for its Xbox console. Microsoft has announced it will continue overall support for its Xbox console, but has not stated if it will produce an external Blu- Ray drive to support other existing systems.

Microsoft has said it will honor warranties on existing HD DVD systems. There are some people that are cheering the abandonment of the HD DVD format and some in the industry are happy that the format selection went the way that it did.

But many in the industry are much more muted. The decision by Toshiba to cease production of its HD DVD format last week was a welcome bit of news for some people, but others see it as a potential negative. DVD sales overall have been declining for some time, last year sales fell another 3.2 percent according to sales figures. Some companies are projecting another decline for the next two years.

In the era of the VCR, the format wars were similar. The fight between VHS and Betamax was fought with VHS the clear winner, but many people faced disappointment when the winner was announced back then, with their collection of betamax movies suddenly a curiosity item rather than anything of value.

Some of the studios are trying even now to prop up the market for DVD’s, with their focus not so much on format, but to insure sales are supported overall.