It’s official Toshiba have conceded defeat to Sony and have announced the closure of their HD DVD factories. An official statement is expected soon, but for now there is this NHK article for conformation.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/dailynews1.html
After getting dumped on by, Best Buy, Netflix, Blockbuster, Woolworths etc it looked like it was inevitable that HD DVD was doomed, but I must say I’m astonished how fast Tosh have moved on this one.