Toshiba CEO Speaks Out on HD DVD Decision

In his first in-depth interview since announcing his company's plans to drop HD DVD support, Toshiba CEO Atsutoshi Nishida says HD DVD "didn't stand a chance" following Warner's decision to exclusively back Blu-ray.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Nishida said that without Warner's support, HD DVD would have just 20% to 30% of software market share, effectively sealing its fate in the high-def format war.

"One has to take calculated risks in business, but it's also important to switch gears immediately if you think your decision was wrong," explained Nishida. "We were doing this to win, and if we weren't going to win then we had to pull out, especially since consumers were already asking for a single standard."

Nishida went on to say that post-HD DVD, Toshiba would turn its focus to upconverting standard-def DVD players and PCs, with an eye to digital downloads.

"We've been developing technologies in [the video downloads] area already, but now that we don't have the HD DVD business, I want to put even more energy into that," explained the CEO.

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