Wal*Mart Watch

[jamclaur]

I just went to wal-mart to pick up some food, and wandered back to the movie section and was looking around.

They had maybe 5 different Blu-ray titles and 1 single HD-DVD disk (TMNT). I talked to the lady about it and she said that the HD-DVD had been there since release...

[reiella]

Well, their web-front only has the Laptop stuff, but not sure how accurate that really is.

Sams has some camera stuff in addition to that [and a mobile DLP + a MP3 player].

That said Sams stock changes often, and I don't even recall what they had before.

[ edit ]
ROFL
Search for HD-DVD on walmart's webfront. Check out the first player shown.

[Vonscoot]

My Wal-Mart carries 24 BD choices while only 12 HD-DVD's... will be expanding to 36 BD and 24 HD-DVD next week

[dmxoneiuv]

the super walmart next to me in eastern pennsylvania has about the same amount of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD shelf space, HOWEVER, the BDs are always out of stock quicker meaning they are selling quicker...any new releases on blu-ray are gone the same day they come out, you have to get there monday night after midnight (technically tuesday) to get the new releases (thats how i got 300, shooter, the patriot). on a side not, they are also remodeling and moving stuff around the walmart so i'm hoping to see they add more space for blu-ray and stock up more.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by reiella

ROFL
Search for HD-DVD on walmart's webfront. Check out the first player shown.

That is indeed hilarious... LOL!

I wonder if someone with Walmart intentionally did that???

[radagast]

Originally Posted by alpinewiz

The Almighty dollar rules! These rumors have been swimming all around this site and I am starting to believe this may be true. Companies are in this to make money and if they, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City etc..., can make more money selling Blu-Ray products that is what they will push until they get the chance to dump the competition, HD DVD, or find something that will make them more money. This Christmas season will define one or the other on sheer profit to the store selling the product and right now my money is on Blu-Ray. They have a higher margin on them to sustain them over a longer period of time.

Exactly!!! Sooner or later, as more Blu titles come out (like between now and the end of the year) and they sell even more, retailers are going to want to devote more and more space to Blu titles and players. By the middle of next year, we will probably see the only place hd-dud titles can be bought will be on Amazon and other online sources. Then by the end of next year, the only place you will see hd-dud crap is on Ebay. Then watch Universal and Paramount trip over themselves trying to catch up. Don't forget, analog tv is soon gone and more and more people will want HD programming sources to go along with their HDTVs AND THEY WILL WANT TO BE ABLE TO RECORD JUST LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS WITH VHS AND DVD RECORDERS. THERE ARE NO HD-DUD RECORDERS ANYWHERE

[L or S of Perfect?]

Funny how the S300 shows availability in-store, and the A-2/hd dvd add on are only available online.

[ESUNintel]

I don't visit my local Wal-Mart very often, because I tend to disagree with their philosophy, that's a different topic though. I decided to visit my local Wal-Mart about 3 days ago, and they had 5 rows of Blu-ray movies and 3 rows of HD-DVD's (where many slots were open). They had only old HD-DVD's, with no more than 3 of each title left, where the Blu-ray section was nicely organized and there were anywhere from 2-5 in stock of each. They also had a Blu-ray movie end-cap.

Seeing they had more Blu-rays in stock than my previous visit, I started a conversation with a guy that's been working there for like the past 2 years. According to him they should be getting more Blu-rays in, specially closer to Holidays. H even said that pretty soon there might be a full movie isle only for Blu-rays, since that's where the future seems to be headed.

That makes me like Wal-Mart a bit more . I really hope there is some sort of deal going on, where Blu-ray will be their choice for HD movies.

[GreenScar]

Okay, here in Phoenix, I have been to about 5 different Wal-marts. My favorite thing is to compare what they have in the electronics section with BD vs. HD. I noticed it's very much a where the store is located kind of thing. There is one that is close to the older part of town that only has 2 BD titles and no HD DVD's and no players of either. The newer Stores have around 30 BD's vs about 5 HD DVD's plus 1 Sony console for $488 (not sure which one it is)

The more interesting thing for me is their pricing.
Their pricing is much more in line with Amazon. They even had Remember the Titans for $18.95.

[Icemage]

Easing off the cheerleading for a moment, here's something to think about:

Wal-Mart has a very specific and peculiar method they employ for obtaining great volume pricing. They're known industry-wide for it.

What they do is bring a manufacturer to the table and push for the lowest cost they can, bearing in mind that they have enormous leverage in any discussion due to the huge market share they own. If they turn an offer down, that manufacturer gets locked out, and Wal-Mart will take their business to the next manufacturer in line.

But what about HD DVD? Wal-Mart has already stated that they won't be carrying Venturer products, and I doubt they'd carry Onkyo products either, which leaves them back at the bargaining table with only one company: Toshiba.

That can't make Wal-Mart happy, because they have no way to find an alternate source for HD DVD, and that hurts their bargaining power. If Toshiba really were foolish enough to try to force the issue and push back, it wouldn't surprise me to see Wal-Mart go with the option that lets them exercise their preferred bargaining strategy; namely, Blu-ray.

[devonthedude]

F*ck Toshiba, Walmart sells HP computers anyway. What does walmart care about Toshiba they sell Billions of Dollars of products worldwide. Sony would love to help Walmart make more money and not be greedy (Sony learned about greed with the beta-max) in the process.