Well-regarded market research firm Gartner is taking sides in the high-def format war, and is speaking on no uncertain terms. According to Gartner’s principal research analyst for Japan, Hiroyuki Shimizu, by the end of 2008 the Blu-ray disc format will have won the high-def format war will be over, and HD DVD’s attempts to appeal to consumers are merely "useless resistance."
"Gartner believes that Toshiba’s price-cutting may prolong HD DVD’s life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format," Shimizu wrote in Gartner’s Semiconductor DQ Monday Report. "Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over."
