It seems like the conflict between Blu Ray and HD DVD is finally over and we have a big winner. After Warner Bros expressed its exclusive support for the Blu Ray format, for HD DVD the game will be over.

The first effect was the plummeting sales of HD DVD players and discs. According to the NPD, in the US during the week ending 1/5/08, Blu Ray player sales were at 15,257 units, closely followed by HD player sales with 14,558 units.

After Warner’s announcement the sales of HD DVD have dropped and during the week ending January 12, Blu Ray sold 21,770 units compared to only 1,758 HD DVD players.

Toshiba has slashed the price of its HD DVD players in US and in Europe. The HD-A3 will be sold in US for $149.99 from $299.99. The HD-A3 wasn’t the only player “affected” by the price cuts. The price for the HD-A30 was also halved, from $399.99 to $199.99, while the price on the high-end HD-A35 went from $499.99 to $299.99.

In Europe, Toshiba said the price of the HD-EP30 player, would be reduced to just below 200 euros ($229).

But even this aggressive policy won’t save Toshiba’s embattled format, according to the research company Gartner.

In Gartner's Semiconductor DQ Monday Report, the analyst Hiroyuki Shimizu said that Blu Ray will be the real champion until the end of the year.

"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. 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”, he wrote.

Meanwhile, the NPD Group noted that sales results from a single week do not necessarily indicate a trend and that the war is far from over.

The company also said that since the price cut, Toshiba’s format has been gaining some traction, with positive sales.