The high-definition video strategies of Toshiba and Microsoft have been thrown into disarray on the eve of the consumer electronics industry’s biggest trade event of the year, following a landmark movie deal secured by rival Sony, reports the FT. A decision late last week by Warner Bros to release high-definition DVDs only in Sony’s Blu-ray format would be the tipping point in the “format war” that has divided the consumer electronics industry, say analysts. Leaders of the rival HD DVD camp – led by Toshiba and Microsoft – at the weekend called off promotional events that had been planned as the Consumer Electronics Show gets underway in Las Vegas. They also cancelled private meetings with analysts and retailers, raising uncertainty about the long-term prospects for the HD technology. Sony shares rose nearly 1% in Tokyo on Monday on news of Warner’s decision, reports Bloomberg.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 5:45 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with microsoft, sony, Warner Bros. Edit this entry.