Jonathan Magasanik, a vice president at Sears, issued an official statement on Friday. It’s brief and it reads the following:

"There have been numerous statements in the media today, attributed to Toshiba, indicating exclusive support for the HD-DVD format in Kmart stores. These statements are false. Kmart intends to support both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray platforms, and has no plans to support either platform exclusively."

So, Kmart will continue to work with both sides for the time being and later adjust its long-term strategy if the market conditions change and one of the two rival will appear to have a chance a winning the war. Hardly a surprise announcement, given the current conditions.

However, offering support for both sides doesn’t exactly mean that both HD DVD and Blu-ray will get to enjoy the same privileges. In fact, it’s more likely that the PlayStation 3 will be the main Blu-ray product available, given both its price and multiple uses.

HD DVD players cost significantly less than Blu-ray ones. Recently, Toshiba managed to drop the price of its A2 device to just under the $200 barrier and a boost in sales is to be expected.