Woolworths Group PLC has announced that the company will no longer be stocking HD-DVD in any of its UK stores from March 2008, citing the success of Sony’s Blu-ray technology.
The company observed that Sony’s high definition platform outsold Toshiba’s HD-DVD by a ratio of ten-to-one over the Christmas period, a factor that is largely attributed to the performance of Sony’s PlayStation 3 console.
As a result, nationwide stores will exclusively sell Blu-ray high definition movies, with HD-DVD neglected to online purchase only.
Woolworths DVD buyer, Steve McGunigel, commented: "Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD.”
"The main reason is the success of Sony’s PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-ray discs, there are over three quarters of a million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format."
"There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around," he added.