The New York Times has a story about the Format War Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD. They asked some people to voice their opinion on the topic.
Shane Greenstein, professor of management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University:
“Each hardware vendor lined up a large coalition, launched a sophisticated campaign, and fully funded their marketing efforts. Such sophistication led to large sunk expenses. That put both sides in a position to lose money unless the war settled quickly.”
Pai-Ling Yin, assistant professor of strategy at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management:
“This battle will end with both HD-DVD and Blu-ray retreating in the face of a new challenger: digital downloading. …. This question brings us to the larger war: the next-generation DVD player is only one battle in the larger war over the living room. Who will control the home entertainment center?”