Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, has finally conceded what other observers have been saying for some time: The format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD is stalled in a stalemate.

His statement, at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, comes on the heels of two significant leg-ups for HD DVD--unprecedentedly low player pricing for the coming holiday shopping rush, and the defection of two major studios to the HD DVD camp.

"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for awhile," he sighed--"until Paramount changed sides." DreamWorks was the other major studio to go solely for HD DVD.

According to the Associated Press coverage, Stringer characterized the format war as a struggle for prestige, and added that if he'd assumed his position as chief executive sooner, he might have averted it.

He also predicted greater U.S. success for the PS3, a major source of Blu-ray sales, in light of brisk European sales and cuts in pricing.