Bentonville (AR) - Less than a year after it quietly entered the video download market, Wal-Mart has quietly left by shutting down its digital download store.

A spokesperson for the retail giant's online division said the decision was made after HP discontinued the technology that powered the service.  She added that Wal-Mart will not look for a new technology partner.

HP said it chose to call it quits for its part in the project because the ever-changing online video market led to performance that was not as well "as expected".

The online video site was shut down immediately, without warning.  Wal-Mart will not offer refunds for anyone who purchased a video that would still have been available for viewing but no longer is.  However, videos that users already downloaded can still be viewed on Windows Media Player.

After opening up its digital service in February, Wal-Mart gained content partners in Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox.  Wal-Mart's online music store, which sells digital tracks for 88 cents each, was unaffected by the change.

HUH?

Dec 28, 2007 17:22     

Wal-Mart had a video download store?
huh? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0