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?
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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