The leaked NPD data broke down the sales by brand:

• Sony (32 percent unit share, 33 percent dollar share)
• Toshiba (28 percent unit share, 14 percent dollar share)
• Samsung (13 percent unit share, 23 percent dollar share)
• Sharp (17 percent unit share, 14 percent dollar share)
• Panasonic (8 percent unit share, 12 percent dollar share)
• LG (1 percent unit share, 3 percent dollar share)

That’s not a good sign for Toshiba, when Sony alone is selling more players than they are – despite the price cuts.

And, in the rumor category, it Home Cinema Choice is reporting that UK high street retailer Currys may be dropping HD DVD. HCC claims an internal source told them it is posted on the Currys’s intranet and is ’100% certain’. But they’ve also updated to say that, since the news leaked a ‘certain manufacturer of HD DVD’ (which must be Toshiba, really) is lobbying Currys to keep stocking the format.

And now Onkyo, a fairly respected brand, is ‘suspending’ their support for HD DVD. Onkyo is a high-end brand, and they added an HD DVD player to their Integra product line last year. The Onkyo DV-HD805 is basically a re-badged Toshiba HD-XE1, which seems to have run into the same troubles as RCA – selling the same goods at a higher price. Onkyo is suspending sales in the UK, telling Home Cinema Choice:

[G]iven the current, multiple uncertainties surrounding the Blu-ray vs HD DVD issue Onkyo has decided against bringing any further DV-HD805s to the UK

Furthermore, it sounds like Onkyo may be ‘suspending’ their HD DVD support permanently, in light of Toshiba’s aggressive price cuts:

Onkyo brings its talents to bear where it thinks it can add value to a given product category. If a category becomes commoditised – as this sector shows signs of becoming – there’s less reason to commit huge resources to it when they may be better employed elsewhere.

Though they may yet release a new device, and if they do I’d expect it to be Blu-ray or perhaps a combination player, in light of the massive shift in the market to Blu-ray. Onkyo says that they will:

unveil a new HD source later this year, but cannot confirm at this stage whether it will be a HD DVD, Blu-ray or combi device.

Considering Toshiba’s deep price cuts, and Onkyo’s statement about adding value and commoditization, I can’t see them releasing another HD DVD player. Given the diversity in the Blu-ray market I could easily see them releasing a high-end Blu-ray player, say Profile 2.0/BD-Live, and perhaps a combi-player as LG and Samsung have done. Vendors just cannot make money selling HD DVD players with Toshiba’s massive subsidies to their own players. Toshiba may be fighting to buy market share with artificially cheap players, but they’re also driving away any other vendors who might support the format. When vendors can make money selling Blu-ray players, but not HD DVD. Which format are they going to support?

From Home Cinema Choice, via WesleyTech.com, by way of Gizmodo.