Perhaps its announcement late last week was more symbolic of HD DVD’s looming demise than anything else, but when it came, Wal-Mart’s lone nod to Blu-ray Disc represented the last big proverbial coffin nail in the end-game towards naming an HD disc winner.
While Wal-Mart said on its Web site it plans to continue to offer standard DVD titles and players (mostly progressive scan), it will phase out HD-DVD in its 4,000-plus outlets by the summer, and most likely by June.
Said the largest retailer in North America: “We’ve listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases. With the customers’ best interest in all we do, we wanted to share our decision and timeline with them as soon as possible, knowing it will help simplify their purchase decision, increase selection, and increase adoption long-term.”
Netflix, which says it now has more than 7 million subscribers, also wrote off HD DVD last week (HD Notebook, Feb. 13, 2008).
