Imation, maker of CD and DVD media, is playing it safe with the next-gen DVD war and releasing both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Similar to the battle between DVD+R and DVD-R in the late 90s, store shelves are going to be full of incompatible DVD formats for a few years before working itself out, much to the dismay of grandma.

At least one analyst thinks the makers of the new high-definition DVD players ultimately may have the most influence. "It probably comes down to who's going to be more aggressive on the hardware side—who's going to subsidise losses on the short term to try to drive adoption," says Dan Renouard, an analyst for Robert Baird in Milwaukee.

A $US2000 high-definition player may not sell, but one for $US500 might, he says.

Gee, a DVD player that doesn't cost more than the TV you're watching it on might sell? Was that something he learned in analyst school?

Imation takes both sides in DVD war [Australian IT]

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