Death Knell Re-redux: Wal-Mart Goes Blu

Wal-Mart, the top U.S. DVD seller, is dropping the HD DVD format in favor of selling only Blu-ray, following Netflix and Best Buy this week, with the string of switches kicked off by Warner Home Video in January. The DVD format wars had been raging for so long, we suppose they need a lot of death knells. Finally, HD DVD developer Toshiba is getting close to dropping its bargain-basement players altogether, according to a separate story in The Hollywood Reporter.

Word of Wal-Mart’s decision came down via the company blog, where contributor Susan Chronister wrote:

by June Wal-Mart will only be carrying BluRay 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.

Through more traditional lines, Wal-Mart senior vice president of home entertainment Gary Severson said in a statement: “We’ve listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases.”

Meantime, Chris Albrecht doesn’t plan on buying any DVDs ever again.