Japan's Toshiba Corp. on Tuesday officially announced it will give up on its HD DVD format, conceding defeat to rival Sony in a long-running DVD format war.

The electronics maker said it would stop selling its HD DVD machines by the end of March. But it will continue to provide after-sales support for people who have already bought its next-generation DVD players and recorders.

The decision ends the battle with a consortium led by Sony over who would set the standard for the next generation of discs, a fight that confused shoppers and stalled a move to the new technology in the 24 billion U.S. dollar home DVD market