The following statement has been released by the Onkyo Corporation of Japan:

ONKYO WILL DISCONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF HD DVD PLAYERS

Onkyo Corporation has decided that Onkyo will discontinue the development and production of HD DVD players.

Onkyo has distributed and sold approximately 2000 units of the HD DVD players in the selected markets due to the growth of the large screen display market and high demand for home entertainment media. Onkyo has reached its decision to discontinue the development and production of HD DVD players after thorough review of Toshiba’s public announcement “Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses” on February 19, 2008. As Onkyo manufactures HD DVD players with core parts supplied by Toshiba, it will be difficult for Onkyo to continue its further development and production of HD DVD players. Despite this decision, Onkyo will continue to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Onkyo HD DVD players.

Regarding Onkyo’s prospective marketing of home theater products, Onkyo continues to provide innovative home theater products with high definition sound and images that are compatible with next generation disc formats such as Blu-ray.

While Onkyo has been an enthusiastic supporter of the HD DVD format, it was not an exclusive relationship. Onkyo’s research and development teams have maintained a parallel development program for the competing Blu-ray technology.

Press Release source: Onkyo.