Apple, Wal-Mart alliance
p2pnet.net News:- Apple and Wal-Mart are talking about a digital download “coupon” to allow consumers to buy movies, TV shows or music on iTunes with Apple paying Wal-Mart a percentage of the proceeds, says an “industry insider” quoted by Variety.
“Since studios (except for Disney, of course) have so far turned a cold shoulder to iTunes because of Wal-Mart’s demands, the computer giant would then gain access to titles from every major,” says the story also observing that Wal-Mart is one of America’s biggest sellers of iPods.
Wal-Mart has apparently “warned” Hollywood that, “it expects to be a major player in the evolution of the digital marketplace, and that studios mustn’t undercut the price of DVDs in its stores with product sold on iTunes,” says Variety, adding:
“Studio sources say the rest of the majors are very close to joining Disney in a deal with Apple but are holding off until the end of the key fourth quarter, when half of all DVD sales occur.
“An alliance between Apple and Wal-Mart would demonstrate how all elements of the entertainment food chain are struggling to get ahead of the curve.”
Variety has also taken Big Four Organized Music cartel mispeak to heart, stating without qualification that the recording biz, “watched its sales plummet due to downloads”. The DVD business, though, “is still relatively healthy and remains a predictable source of profit for the studios”.
The story continues the studios know they’ll, “have to undergo a transition as the homevid market transforms from the production, sales and marketing of a packaged good – the DVD – into the sale of a digital product, perhaps in the form of a subscription business.
But they, “don’t want to hand digital sales over to Apple in the way that the record labels did a few years ago – a move that took away much of their power to set pricing in the marketplace.”
Earlier this year, “Wal-Mart was rumored to be pressuring the studios not to sign up with Apple because it feared the downloads would be lower their price on DVDs,” says imediaconnections.
“The potential alliance may make movie studios more comfortable about adding their movie libraries to the Apple iTunes store.”
Also See:
Variety – DVD Jon Fairplays Apple, October 2, 2006
imediaconnections – Apple and Wal-Mart in Movie Deal Talks , October 2, 2006
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