Wal-Mart Enters Video Download Biz
The nation's largest retailer has taken it's first steps into the nascent video download business by offering the Superman Returns DVD bundled with a downloadable copy.
Wal-Mart has been rumored to be the cause of the breakdown in negotiations between movie studios and Apple over providing their content on the iTunes Music Store. Although company executives have denied any meddling, such a move by Wal-Mart has long been expected.
No full-fledged movie download service is yet available, however the company plans to launch one in the coming months. In addition, Wal-Mart plans to make additional titles available through the DVD and download bundle option.
Consumers would be able to select from the option to download a copy for portable devices for $1.97, a version formatted for PCs and laptops for $2.97, or receive both versions for $3.97. A download code would be provided with the DVD, the company said.
"We believe that as we expand this offering to other movie titles, our customers will come to value this extra option as one of the benefits of buying a DVD at Wal-Mart," divisional merchandise manager for digital media Kevin Swint said.
Don't expect the new service to compete with Apple's offering, however; videos are encoded in Windows Media format and are DRM-protected, meaning users would not be able to transfer purchased content to their iPods. Not even Microsoft's new Zune player will be able to view the videos, as it is incompatible with PlaysForSure.
But such incompatibility isn't stopping Wal-Mart. When launched, the service will not only include movie downloads, but also television shows as well.
It's unclear how successful any new prospective video download service could be. With Microsoft backing away from PlaysForSure following the launch of Zune, the future of the DRM technology is in question. Additionally, other services, such as Amazon's Unbox, have received negative reviews and lackluster consumer adoption.
In many cases, it is still too early to gauge the success of such offerings since the download option is fairly new, say some analysts.