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Could Wal-Mart Win Movie-Download War?

Giving credit where credit is due, The Wall Street Journal commends Wal-Mart for its successful digital movie download strategy. Last year, the mega-retailer bought streaming service Vudu -- for a reportedly $100 million -- which lets customers rent or buy digital versions of movies. Since then, Vudu has become the third-most-popular such service, according to researcher HIS.

Remarkably, "the jump put Vudu ahead of similar offerings from Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Corp.," WSJ notes. That said, Vudu's 5.3% share of the market still stands in the shadow of iTunes' 65.8% share, and while Microsoft's 16.2%. What's more, "Analysts have questioned whether Vudu has the legs to reach Wal-Mart's core customers."

Very recently, the Wal-Mart has integrated Vudu movies into the Walmart.com Web site, while keeping the Vudu.com site active. "The retailer also launched a format that allows owners of tablets, like the iPad, easily to view movies through their Web browsers," The Journal adds. "The tablet-friendly format allows Wal-Mart to avoid the 30% cut Apple collects from content sold through its App Store."

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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