How significant is Wal-Mart’s decision to sell inexpensive HD-DVD Players? It is “VERY” significant! Believe this or not, not only does Wal-Mart control employment in many communities and small towns but they also control RETAIL SALES. Wal-Mart is responsible for 40+ percent of ALL DVD sales in the US, yes over 40%. When Apple announced that iTUNES would sell Movies and TV Shows, Wal-Mart took serious issue with the studios. The issue was so serious that Wal-Mart threatened to return all “excess DVD stock” in protest. To calm down Wal-Mart, Steve Jobs personally called the CEO in an attempt to smooth things over. In the end, the studios agreed to work with Wal-Mart on their own download service for Movies and TV Shows (the content will not work on Apple computers or iPODS). In addition to the movie industry, Wal-Mart also has a strong grip on the game console industry. If Wal-Mart objects to carrying a game for any reason, the dev/publisher must make changes to please Wal-Mart as they sell more games than anyone in the US (yes, more than GAMESTOP and EB combined). Wal-Mart is very powerful and they are poised to gain even more control in the near and distant future.

With Wal-Mart’s latest move to sell inexpensive HD-DVD Players, Wal-Mart could be the deciding factor in the Next Gen HD Movie war instead of the porn industry as with VHS/BETAMAX. Wal-Mart’s 2 million piece order of HD-DVD Players that will sell for around 300.00 is a HUGE BOOST to HD-DVD and a kick in the nuts for Blu-Ray. Wal-Mart already sells more HDTV’s than any retailer and a 300.00 HD-DVD Player is the “PERFECT” compliment purchase for any “new” HDTV owner and also existing owners. Wal-Mart’s knows its customer base very well and appears to be confident that they can sell HD-DVD Players and Movies all day along (and then some). Speaking of movies, the Wal-Mart deal could also force Fox, Disney and Lionsgate to shift their strategy and support HD-DVD (soon). Could this really happen? YES, it sure could and probably will! None of the studios want to be left out in the cold when it comes to retail sales and Wal-Mart could essentially demand that the studios (Fox, Disney, Lionsgate and others) support HD-DVD (whether they like it or not) in addition to Blu-Ray.

Since the format war started we have all been looking and waiting for a killer app that would propel one format over the other and now it appears the killer app will come in the way of a “retailer” instead of a title like the Matrix (already coming to HD-DVD) or Lord of the Rings. Wal-Mart is a monster that is out of control in many aspects but their support of HD-DVD is one of best moves the company has made in recent memory.

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