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Microsoft: Death of HD DVD no biggie - February 18, 2008

Those expecting to word from Microsoft that it will quickly roll out a Blu-ray Disc add-on for the Xbox 360 won't find what they're looking for in the company's first official comment on the apparent demise of the HD DVD format. The company issued the following statement Monday (the Presidents Day holiday in the U.S.):

We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Having bet on the wrong horse, I don't expect Microsoft to be in any great hurry to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon. Unless the evidence becomes pretty solid that the Blu-ray drive is really driving sales of PlayStation 3 consoles, the more likely course for Microsoft would be to push "high-def" downloads via Xbox Live. The fact that they may have designed a Blu-ray add-on drive, as some reports have suggested, proves only that Microsoft makes contingency plans. Not necessarily an indication of a strategic shift.
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