Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/02/15/wal_mart_to_drop_hd_dvd/
Wal-Mart blogger claims retailer will ditch HD DVD
Toshiba increasingly isolated
Posted in Personal Tech, 15th February 2008 17:00 GMT
Wal-Mart has apparently decided to follow Best Buy and Netflix and only offer its customers Blu-ray Disc products in future.
From June, the retail giant will no longer offer HD DVD players.
The news comes from the company's Check Out blog, penned by staffers. One of them, Susan Chronister, today wrote: "OK, so are you ready... Wal-Mart is going Blu.
"By June, Wal-Mart will only be carrying Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, and of course standard-def movies, DVD players, and up-convert players.
"Not sure of the short-term pricing plans, but history tells us that as more people move to a new technology prices typically go down."
If Chronister's claim is an accurate representation of company policy, it could mark the beginning of the end for HD DVD. Toshiba is rumoured to be reconsidering its stance on the format, which is not a good sign, and suggests Wal-Mart's decision might already have been communicated to it.
Even the consumer electronics giant intends to stand steadfastly behind HD DVD, it's hard to imagine the format surviving the loss of Wal-Mart among its retail partners. Don't forget, Wal-Mart was instrumental in making Toshiba's programme of massive HD DVD player price cuts drive sales during the last half of 2007.