Sony CEO: High-Def Format War a ‘Stalemate’

Sony CEO Howard String has describe the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD as a "stalemate," citing Paramount's decision to back HD DVD as a significant shift.

Speaking at the 92 nd Street Y cultural center in Manhattan, Sony Corporation CEO Howard Stringer described the formt war between his company’s Blu-ray format and Toshiba’s HD DVD as a “stalemate,” citing Paramount’s decision to back HD DVD as a major reason, while at the same time downplaying the importance of one format actually winning control of the market.

As reported by the Associated Press, Stringer said “We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides.”

In addition to winning over Hollywood studio Paramount, the HD DVD cam has seen some significant successes in the last few months, due in part to price breaks which have seen HD DVD players routinely selling for under $200, and fire sales pushing units out some retailers’ doors under $100.

Stringer also sounded upbeat about the future of the company’s PlayStation 3 console, which has been on the market nearly a year but has failed to achieve the kind of sales momentum envisioned by the company. Stringer said recent price cuts have made the console the top seller in Europe and have it closing the sales gap with the popular Nintendo Wii. Sony hopes to sell 10 million Blu-ray equipped PlayStation 3 systems worldwide by March 2008.