Rich Fiscus
14 Jan 2008 23:03
Despite shutting down its first attempt at a video download service in December, after less than a year of operation, Wal-Mart already appears to be working on a replacement. Unlike the previous attempt, which relied on services provided by Hewlett-Packard (HP) to deliver the video, this time the world's largest retailer looks to be striking out on their own.
No doubt the decision by Wal-Mart executives to set up their own delivery system was at least influenced by the fate of the earlier venture. The reason for making such an early exit the first time around was HP's decision to get out of the business entirely, leaving Wal-Mart without a distribution channel. HP's official statement on the matter said “the market for paid video downloads has not performed as expected, and the broader internet video space continues to remain highly dynamic and uncertain.”
That uncertainty apparently isn't as worrisome to Wal-Mart. According to Multichannel News, Microsoft representatives took advantage of last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to research the technology required to provide movie downloads that can be burned onto DVD.
In addition, although the online store has been shut down, Wal-Mart has continued to supply the online licensing service required for the files' DRM to allow playback through Windows Media Player.