Well, it’s official. After much speculation it’s finally over. With virtually every major studio backing the rival Blu-Ray format and major retailers in the US recently deciding to stop stocking HD-DVD, Toshiba will no longer develop, make or market HD-DVD players, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008, but will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. “While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

The VHS vs Beta Max war of our time has ended with the same result… only one winner, which is the logical outcome given recent developments but also a shame as many of us admired the quality of HD-DVD, and the competition was good to promote improved content quality.

The complete Official Press Release can be read here