I do wonder if there was more - like Sonys disk has a very thin layer, requiring special new machinery to press disks... the ol HD-DVD was same as existing DVD's... so pirates wouldn't need any new technology to press the disks

Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war. Toshiba has said it will stop making its high definition DVDs, ending a battle with rival format Blu-ray over which would be the industry standard

TOKYO--Sony said Wednesday it will sell its microchip production facilities in western Japan to Toshiba for $835 million, in their latest move to focus on their core businesses. The equipment will be used by their semiconductor joint venture that will make high-performance Cell chips and RSX graphic chips, both used in Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, as well as other microchips that go into Toshiba products.

Sony, which is focusing on image sensor chips for digital cameras and pulling away from heavy investments for cutting-edge chip production equipment, said in October it would sell production facilities for making key microchips used in the PS3 to Toshiba, but the price has been unavailable.

The announcement on the selling price comes on the heels of Toshiba's decision on Tuesday to abandon its HD DVD high-definition DVD format, ending a prolonged battle with the Sony-led Blu-ray camp.