The official statement is as follows:

"Our position hasn’t changed and certainly any comments that were published in the US were not intended to suggest that we had changed our stance. We support both formats and we have not made any decision towards that policy and nor are any such announcements planned or in the pipeline.

"In terms of the short-term scenarios around the Q4 sales results, Warner Brothers are always reviewing our strategies and we can’t say what might happen in five or ten years, but for now, there’s been no decision made to change course."

Yet the rumours continue to fly...

You forgot the "for now" part.

Remember Sony wasn't reducing the price of the PS3 a few days before it was announced and Microsoft had no plans to reduce prices on 360's even days before they did.

Who knows if or when they might change but they will not come out and tell people before they want to.

Flying mainly from one colour.

That's just Warner's way of saying "we're still open to offers!" ;)

I agree Johnny... Warner is the belle at the HD ball right now and when they see they get the best deal AND are happy with the sales from either format then maybe, just maybe they'll drop their neutrality.

BusinessWeek in an article noted that Warner was waiting until after Christmas to make any decisions one way or the other. Essentially the company is only going to go with one format when they see a significant lead in hardware adoption.

Sounds right.

See what the second wave of HD shoppers buy for hardware now.

They're not going to admit anything until an official press release. Companies will deny anything up until the moment its announced.

Most rumors ive heard are that Warner will go exclusive, one way or another, AFTER analyzing 4th q data. Therefor their current comment is perfectly in line with that.

Their current comment is not in line with that. They stated:

We support both formats and we have not made any decision towards that policy and nor are any such announcements planned or in the pipeline.

You can't deny actions from the 4th quarter sales any more that that.

Why deny something now and make an announcement in 3 weeks at CES? They would simply say nothing now.

A decision could be made 6 months from now or a year but I doubt at CES 2008.

4th quarter in a fiscal year ends March 31st.

Time Warner's (NYSE:TWX) fiscal YE is Dec. 31st.

In retail (I believe) quarters are usually calender quarters even if they don't allign with Fiscal quarters.

Personally I believe WB will not burn any bridges. They will support both formats until a winner is announced or perceived.

For this to happen something else has to change.

For example if BD players drop below 200usd and standalone sales exceed HD DVD players and the gap(s/w) between BD and HD DVD expands (especially WB titles) than WB will probably throw in the towel.

4th quarter in a fiscal year ends March 31st.
Who's fiscal year end? A company can choose any fiscal year end that they want.

Sorry, I just thought it was a more universal thing for fiscal years to begin Aprils 1st. I've been working for governement for too long ... sigh....

There was something strange in that statement ("published in the US") which lead me to Google it...

This is a statement coming from Warner Australia:

SYDNEY: Warner Home Video Australia has denied a BusinessWeek report that its US parent could decide to support only one format, likely Blu-ray, dependent on sales for each this quarter - a switch that could have tipped the balance in the HD format war.

A switch would have seen Blu-ray capture nearly 70 per cent of the US market compared to its current 49 per cent share.

In an official statement, Warner Brothers Home Video Australia and New Zealand managing director Roger Clarke said, the company’s global position had not changed and they would continue to support both HD DVD and Blu-ray for the foreseeable future.

“Our position hasn’t changed and certainly any comments that were published in the US were not intended to suggest that we had changed our stance. We support both formats and we have not made any decision towards that policy and nor are any such announcements planned or in the pipeline,” he said.

“In terms of the short-term scenarios around the Q4 sales results, Warner Brothers are always reviewing our strategies and we can’t say what might happen in five or ten years, but for now, there’s been no decision made to change course.”

He said both formats would be supported, with big titles such as the upcoming new Batman film, The Dark Knight, due out in cinemas early next year, out on both formats by mid next year.

http://www.current.com.au/2007/12/12/article/WEMPTGCOKS.html

I'm not saying this changes anything at all, but a statement from someone outside the US doesn't carry a lot of weight, since decisions like this are made by the people in LA, not in Sydney.

Gord

A famous recent story in these parts....

The $199.99 Venturer will not be sold at Wal-mart

“We have no plans to have Venturer in our stores this holiday,” Wal-Mart merchandise spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said. “We will continue to offer the best values on popular HD DVD and Blu-ray products from leading consumer brands like Sony, Samsung, Philips, Toshiba and RCA.”

True Gord but they were stating the Global position. In a large corporation, speaking out of turn will get you fired, especially if you are not authorized to speak on behalf of your corporation.

darrylr, good point on Wal-Mart. One would assume something changed that resulted in Wal-Mart carrying that product. God knows what.

That being said, the gap between the Wal-Mart statement and the resulting action was several months.

Their current comment is not in line with that. They stated:



You can't deny actions from the 4th quarter sales any more that that.

Why deny something now and make an announcement in 3 weeks at CES? They would simply say nothing now.

A decision could be made 6 months from now or a year but I doubt at CES 2008.
Happens all the time. They can deny it up until the day before and I wouldnt be surprised. No company is going to devulge that sort of information until they're good and ready. Company denials should always be taken with a grain of salt.

I doubt too that it will be at CES 2008, but I think it will happen before 6 months.

Yes, denials happen but the stories around the net were focusing on a decision at CES 2008 (in BDs favour) based upon Q4 sales. I believe WB statement was basically saying "not gonna happen at CES".

After CES is another matter.