Recently, for example, the major studios opened negotiations to provide movies to be played on Apple Computer Inc.'s video iPod -- an important step toward Hollywood's digital future. Then Wal-Mart, the biggest seller of DVDs, disrupted the talks when it delivered a pointed warning to the studios not to give Apple a better deal for digital movies than the retailer gets for physical copies.
"Our conversations with the studios are about what Wal-Mart has always been about -- giving our customers the best value and selection," said a Wal-Mart spokeswoman in an email response.
Wal-Mart =
But also of note is the Katzenberg's somewhat iffy pronouncement on the future of Hi-Def DVDs:
"DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says while the new format will be a high-margin business, 'it's not clear whether it will grow into a mass-market platform.'"
That's not a ringing endorsement of the medium. Could it be that Sony loses big even if Blu-Ray wins the war?
1 comment:
Decline of DVD sales was predictable. As the medium took off, people were bound to buy up old titles of DVDs, artificially pumping up the sales. By now, I suspect that people more or less have the old DVD titles they want and are picking and choosing what they want of the new titles that come along.
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