Wal-Mart going Blu-ray only from June

Final nail in HD DVD's coffin?

15 February 2008 16:44 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Following rumoured reports just this morning that Toshiba is preparing to put the struggling HD DVD format out of its misery by conceding defeat in the format war to Blu-ray, another major American retailer has put the boot in.

It seems Wal-Mart has chosen to go Blu-ray only and will only sell Blu-ray hardware and software in its stores from the summer.

A post by Susan Chronister, a Wal-Mart buyer on the company's blog reads:

"OK, so are you ready… Wal-Mart is going Blu. By June Wal-Mart will only be carrying Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, and of course standard def movies, DVD players, and up convert players."

She continues: "So… if you bought the HD player like me, I'd retire it to the bedroom, kid’s playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard def movies, and make space for a BD player for your awesome Hi Def experience".

Wal-Mart is a big retailer in the States, and also owns the Asda chain in the UK. The assumption is that if HD DVD weren't about to commit format suicide, this will really hurt them.