Japan's Toshiba has given up on its HD DVD format after losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony.
The decision ends a war between rival consortiums led by Toshiba and Sony vying to set the standard high-definition movies on DVDs, and which has stalled a shift to the new technology in the $24 billion home DVD market.
Toshiba said it would start reducing shipments of HD DVD players and recorders and aim to close out the business by the end of next month.
"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," Toshiba President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida said.
The Blu-ray win means consumers no longer have to choose between rival incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st-century equivalent of Betamax - Sony's videotape technology that lost out to VHS in the 1980s.
Toshiba has agreements with studios including NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks, which support HD-DVD.
The tide turned against HD-DVD, however, after the defection last month by Time Warner's Warner Bros studio to Blu-ray. US retailers soon followed, including Wal-Mart Stores.