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114 Comments
- cambrown99, on 10/12/2007, -25/+97Wal-Mart is evil. Any corporation that rakes in record billions, yet a good percentage of their employees are on gov't asssitance, is just plain evil.
- unloud, on 10/12/2007, -10/+70I think Walmart is not necessarily evil when doing its normal business, but when it uses its existing monopoly to prevent competitors from entering the market, I think that is not only illegal, it's highly immoral
If this story is acctually true, my hope is that all of the companies would join at the same time. I doubt even Walmart would have the balls to stop selling DVDs. - flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -8/+43Wal-Mart thinks an online movie store would hurt their business?
Have they SEEN their customers? - RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -7/+33Ha! The two biggest ***** groups on Earth - Wal-Mart and Hollywood - are going toe to toe? Have a good clean fight, guys, and I hope both of you somehow get screwed in the end.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28If the movie studios understood their market even a little bit, they would tell Walmart to get bent.
Alas, major movie studios are about as forward-thinking as the RIAA. - CraigJ, on 10/12/2007, -15/+34Agreed. I refuse to shop at Walmart - I will pay mor to buy elsewhere. I am a strong advocate of the free market, but Walmart is an example of a big business whose business model is detremental to the long term US economy.
I buy all my DVDs from Amazon... - Quix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20"If studios give Walmart movies for $14 a piece and give Apple the same movie for $10 a piece, Walmart would ofcourse want to use its leverage to get a cheaper price"
Yes, and Wal-Mart should realize that its $14 is getting a physical DVD (with no DRM), while Apple is getting a digital file. Digital media SHOULD cost less than physical media; both for the retailer and the consumer. - TheEgghead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16So I have a feeling this is going to make me look stupid, but I was confused by this statement:
>>>>
The studios generally charge Wal-Mart a wholesale price of $17.95 for new DVDs, while Apple is paying Disney a wholesale price of about $14.50 per film, according to a studio source.
>>>>
How is Apple paying $14.50 and selling it for $9.99? Am I missing something? Maybe they mean that they only pay $14.50 on the ones they sell for $14.99, but this still seems like a pretty slim margin. - punx45, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20walmart has a considerable history of using its market presence as a strong arm tactic. (which is why i never buy stuff from them) what other retailer could threaten hollywood as a whole? this situation should be interesting to watch develop.
- millixaw, on 10/12/2007, -9/+23Apple wants to sell you DRM-infected movies at a fraction of their resolution, without any extra features, that cost more than the retail DVD in some cases.
Walmart wants to sell you DVDs that they've marked below the standard retail price (sometimes as low as $4.99 for a DVD), in the full package with the box and extras and all. Their price scheme due to their stranglehold on the industry and the desire to compete with DVD rental shops.
Both Apple and Walmart are evil in their own ways but I gotta take the cheap standard DVD over the DRM-infected download any day. - Diganta, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20After trying to find the urgent care clinic this morning for my girlfriend with
her new student health care plan, we where told to go to the ER at the hospital nearby (which we both were trying to avoid). At the ER I found two Wal-Mart employees waiting to be triaged. It is a pity when the Walton family members being the 3rd richest people on the planet or collectively wealthier than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet combined have their employees use the ER as their regular health care. When Wal-Mart comes to town it puts many local shops out of business and then strains the local government health care resources and infrastructure. - WiseWeasel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I don't see Apple's video store, as it currently works, being a huge threat to Walmart. With all the restrictions Apple enforces, such as not being able to play the videos on standard video playback devices like DVD players, I can't see Apple video service doing any better than their music service, which still accounts for a fairly small percentage of music sold.
With their music service, at least, you can burn the downloads to standard Audio CD format, and use them as you see fit. With their video service, though, you can't do anything with the files unless you use approved Apple hardware or software. Well f**k all that noise! If Apple hopes to be able to challenge DVD retailers, they better let you burn to standard DVD format. If I can't use my video purchases on standard hardware, then they're worthless to me, or at least worth much less than their current prices. Until then, Netflix and Walmart are still getting my hard-earned cash... - reed311, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13$9 an hour is crap. You can't feed a family on $9 an hour in most parts of the country. It's not easy to find another job when they all pay about the same. I'm telling you, even with a college degree you cannot find work in most rural towns.
- sfatoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@vrtladept
Not only Linux. There are a ton of free programs out there (DVDShrink, DVDEncrypter, etc) for Windows desktops which easily allow you to crack & rip & watch DVDs from any region. - elebrio, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-09-22T185622Z_01_WEN5836_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEDIA-WALMART-STUDIOS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
Walmart disputes. - ssWhiplash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Yeah, I found that hard to believe too. WalMart is not paying that much for a DVD either. Those prices sound like what the CUSTOMER pays on the high end.
- millixaw, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Hollywood needs to be threatened. At least Walmart isn't the MPAA.
- vrtladept, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Let's not forget that "Standard DVDs" are DRM infested as well. (Although I will be the first to admin that a modern linux OS can easily circumvent the region coding and CSS encryption). The masses out there however do not enjoy this as they do not use a modern linux system.
- tucsonwc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Standard DVDs ARE DRM infested. And so are many DVD Players.
CSS is DRM.
Region Coding is DRM.
What else can we explain for you?
Will you now stop buying DVD's because of DRM? - meshgiath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Wal Mart : The High Cost of Low Prices. Watch it. That's all I can tell you
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8999161366242516685&q=walmart - yabos, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17This is just another example of Walmart trying to force it's way on smaller companies. And yes in this case movie studios are smaller than Walmart.
- diggnatious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7In case you didn't know, Apple's i-Tunes music store is #4 behind Walmart, Bestbuy and Amazon.
- hinkbot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I believe Walmart is venturing into it's own movie download service. Maybe they are hoping that their retail power could prevent Hollywood from dealing with Apple and solely with the Walmart service. In turn, ensuring it's success over iTMS with regards to movie downloads.
- cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17I'm a Target shopper but I can't say I'll ever "hate" a corporation, that's an immature outlook on life. Sure its popular when you're 15 to complain about "the man" and big business, what better to point your finger than the world's biggest retailer?
They don't pay enough, eh? You DO realize that they pay WELL above minimum wage in almost all their markets, don't you? You DO realize they DO offer health care, don't you? Listen, their employees are uneducated schlebs. Good people, but not the sharpest knives in the drawer, if you know what i mean. So, should Walmart pay them $30,000 a a year to do a mindless job? Ok, say they do. Then Walmart will have to raise their prices to over that of their competition. Will YOU shop Walmart so subsidize their "good" pay-scale? ***** no, you'll go where the ***** is for sale cheaper.
Get off your ***** high horse and realize that Walmart is just a big company, paying their employees what the market dictates.
If you really don't like that, then move to a place where capitalism is not legal. - CraigJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5why digg him down? Those are good questions. If they are not then correct his assumptions.
- michaelb1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Walmart is all for competition when it is them out-competing little Mom and Pop stores.
When another big Co. jumps is the ring Walmart starts making throwing a tantrum. - v3xt0r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Shopping at Wal-Mart is a sign of support for communism.
Almost everything there (and Target) is made in China.
Keep purchasing Chinese Manufactured products. Keep supporting mainstream consumer exploitation. Keep fueling the CPC treasury. Wait for ww3.
Good luck, my 'fellow' americans, err, comrades. - KSUdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I find it a little funny/ironic that Walmart wants to stop the studios from selling on iTunes, yet Walmart has iPods sitting on their shelves for sale.
- hyperpasta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4^Actually #5 (you forgot Target), but its set to PASS AMAZON next year if the growth continues at its current pace.
- punx45, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11While if i had to choose between one or the other, I would consider Reuters to be more reliable than the Post, but what the Post reported is consistent with walmart's business tactics with many suppliers.
- ElectricGrandpa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7ALL companies do that.
- egarc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Quix wrote:
"Wal-Mart should realize that its $14 is getting a physical DVD (with no DRM), while Apple is getting a digital file."
No DRM? Tell that to DVD Jon. - thunderer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Internationalism's a bitch isn't it?
- neozeed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Absolutely! People seem to forget what the hell communist china is.
Retards.
Was there any big Buy Soviet! promotions in the 80's.
I guess Gorbachev is crying now, all that slave labor gone to waste. - progpen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Exactly, the words "Walmart", "free market", and "fair competition" just don't go together.
- brianpeat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I actually think this is pretty funny. If it's true, Walmart is threatening to buy less stuff...and if they buy less stuff, people are going to go to iTunes to find it since Walmart will no longer carry it (if iTunes does indeed start carrying library titles). So in an effort to hurt Hollywood, they'll actually drive sales to the very thing they want to close down. Someone out there needs to rethink this tactic.
- treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Walmart says "Serious Ramifications" if Studios Hopped in Bed with Apple"
Remember kids, always use protection... you don't want to be giving diseases to Apple (they're supposed to be virus immune) - thunderer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They're not making any money on the music, I think Apple's just into movies to increase iPod sales (and look snazzy while doing so), not get a direct profit from them.
- NealV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Yes, maybe to an extent I agree with you, but name one other company that is able to pull off their new prescription drug plan. "
Erm, Costco, who has been selling generics at and under $4 for a long while now? - fupresti, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Those prices (17.95) are correct for Wal-Mart's wholesale cost. DVD's are typically a loss-leader product. Meaning, Wal-Mart takes a hit on profit to get you in the store and then sells you other items at a profit to make up the difference.
As for Apple paying Disney $14.50 per download, I really doubt that. I am sure that is what the PR monkeys are spewing to appease Wal-Mart, but I gotta figure that Jobs has made sure he is making a profit on each download. - ElectricGrandpa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah but in a free market, it's also wal-mart's right to refuse to sell movies made by certain studios. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
- tinkafoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"We're a big monopoly and if we refuse to sell your product, we know exactly how much you're going to suffer! Don't mess with us, or we will hurt you BAD."
Why is this ***** not illegal? Microsoft gets all the hate for being a monopoly, but where is the justice system when Wal Mart does the SAME DAMN THING?? - pabloD, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6exactly.
- TheWriteGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wal-Mart is in the music downloading biz. They sell tracks for 88 cents, use the DRM'ed WMA format, but the bitrate is 128. But nobody seems to care to buy music downloads from them.
- lopla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Bush admn. says they will put this Sherman Act to a vote. Votes will be tabulated by Diebold.
- diggitydank, on 10/12/2007, -8/+10"Walmart is evil"
Yes, maybe to an extent I agree with you, but name one other company that is able to pull off their new prescription drug plan. While it will start in only FL, if the new deal makes it nationwide it is going to be HUGE. Imagine being able to get a month supply of your prescription for $4. I have a fantastic insurance plan right now that does not even make them that cheap for me.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0922walmartdrugs0922.html - TheWriteGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Either go to Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. to buy DVDs... or buy them online from Amazon or Buy.com. Heck, I've never once bought a DVD at Wal-Mart. For some reason, it's never been appealing to me to buy my entertainment media from Wal-Mart.
- progpen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Damn! Took the words right out of my mouth. We can only hope that they kill each other off.
- nuflux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2By the way, the studios won't give in to such a demand for legal reasons. They can't. Basically, Walmart is asking them to violate the Sherman Act. Apple legal is paying close attention, I'm sure, not to mention the DOJ.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Shopping at Wal-Mart is a sign of support for communism.
Almost everything there (and Target) is made in China.
Keep purchasing Chinese Manufactured products. Keep supporting mainstream consumer exploitation. Keep fueling the CPC treasury. Wait for ww3.
Good luck, my 'fellow' americans, err, comrades. "
Holy crap, Honestly, where do you guys come up with this *****. I have kids and Walmart saves me alot of money , thats the bottom line. Communism? are you serious? I have done more for this country then you ever will pimple boy. -
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