i apologize for being vague on "low cost".  i'm sure blu-ray has been licensed to other manufacturers--which is good for blu-ray, since that will drive innovation and push down costs.

i think online delivery will take over in about 2 to 3 years, so both blu-ray and HD-DVD are likely gonna be niche products anyway.  other than high def, it's good for like backing up data... i do like blu-ray a little more because of the fact that you can burn 20 extra Gb of data, which is like 67% of HD-DVD... i do regular backing up of my work data, and it's very annoying to have to burn data to multiple DVD's.  the 67% extra space matters quite a bit, but that's a rather niche application, since for most people a big external hard disk would be much more convenient.

If Blu-Ray out sells HD-DVD for another 2 fiscal quarters it wouldnt make sense for Wal-Mart to stock HD-DVD. I walked into Wal-Mart just today and saw a banner that said "Ask About Blu-Ray" which I would wonder why Wal-Mart would move to HD-DVD if they have banners like that. I'd understanding selling some if Universal doesnt shift over to duel formats or Blu-Ray exclusively but I doubt that it would sell well.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/24/hd-dvd-camp-unable-to-confirm-wal-mart-hd-dvd-player/

 Seems like if Wal-Mart was planning to "KILL Blu-ray" the HD DVD promotions group would want people to know about it.

 When asked about this article recently, a Wal-Mart representative declined to comment on the issue, but did take time to mention they would be carrying Sony's upcoming Blu-ray player.  Seems an interesting strategy to talk about an upcoming product you are planning to "KILL"

Seeing that one of the author's other articles is about how awesome the 360 is I would hold this a little below rumour at the moment.  That being said it does make sense from a money standpoint for WalMart.  Blu-ray will still be too expensive for WalMart at the end of the year but HD DVD could be cheap enough.  Wal Mart doesn't make any money off of movie sales anyways and with Blu Ray out of reach all of those arguments are pointless.  Even this Christmas is way too early to declare a victor in the format war so saying Blu Ray will be in the lead then is also somewhat beside the point. 

If WalMart does this, and that's a big if, it would matter to mass market America which is where most sales will happen over time.  Since overall sales of both formats will still be dwarfed by DVD in a year it could have a major impact in the format war (1 million sales for BluRay in 6 months? Wow, individual DVD's do that in a matter of hours).  It may not win it outright for HDDVD but it could easily split the market between higher end BluRay and lower end HDDVD.  As for Wal Marts clout elsewhere, America is the most important market and it is possible to split formats between regions like VHS and Betamax did.

I do find it funny though that Sony fanboys are so quick to call this competition for Sony when Sony has 5:4 advantage in sales (10:1 advantage in players isn't as important since they obviously aren't translating into movie sales, if they do it'll be more important) but the video game console race is too early to call despite being down 5:1.

Yeah this is starting to not seem the big exclusive deal they are making it out to be. But what I find funny, is all the Sony fanboys who think blu-ray has the format war in the bag because it's selling 2 to 1. Do you same people think Nintendo has the console war in the bag because Wiis are selling 2:1 against ps3s? I'm sure you don't. And I'm sure you'll give an eloborate answer as to why that's different. But all these arguements are purely based on what everyone wants to see, and not honest evaluations of whats going on.

LOl omg you ppl can't be serious. this is Rob Enderle. he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. he just pulls stuff out of his a$$ like the MS pawn he is. oh bejeebus...

Nooo... no-body would listen to me... blahblahblah

http://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=10557

Wal-Mart seems very interested in expending their Blu-ray offerings.

Melissa O’Brien, senior manager of corporate communications for merchandise, said the chain will carry Sony’s new Blu-ray player when it is released. Wal-Mart also stocks Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console, which includes a Blu-ray drive.

Wal-Mart’s beachhead in high-def packaged media could evolve into something more significant following a report the retailer had ordered 2 million Chinese-made HD DVD players for $100 million.

Spokesperson O’Brien wouldn't comment on the HD DVD player order but said Wal-Mart is in the process of revamping its electronics department to entice both tech savvy early adopters as well as general consumers with improved products at discounted prices. 

I have heard rumors in the past about how Walmart will go to a manufacturer and (basically) tell them what price they will be selling their product to Walmart for; if the manufacturer refuses Walmart will find another manufacturer who is willing to produce a similar product at that price and they will won't stock the initial manufacturer's product anymore.

I don't know whether these rumors are true or not but it is (theoritically) possible that Walmart told distributors and manufacturers what they were willing to pay for HD-Movies and HD-Movie players and Blu-Ray simply could not come down to those prices ...

i find ignorance funny.

 Br is exclusuvly backed by Disney and Fox, that would be as if Square and EA decided to back only one console.