Audio Video News

The folks who shop at Wal-Mart aren't what people typically think of as audio- or videophiles, nor necessarily trendsetters. But, they do represent Main Street, America. So, when Wal-Mart speaks, we all listen.

After CD sales dropped by almost 25% last quarter, Wal-Mart has pulled back their stocks of CD, filling the shelves with electronics and Blu-ray movies.

"We believe Wal-Mart is increasing its exposure to consumer electronics, video games, and Blu-ray, and reducing floor space devoted to CDs and standard DVDs,” said Richard Greenfield, analyst with Pali Capital, from a report on Home Media Magazine.

There were more interesting quotes from Wal-Mart insiders.

John Fleming, CMO of Wal-Mart said, “In electronics, where all the digital products are getting space expansions, and some of the physical packaged media — CDs, movies — are coming down dramatically so that we can space the growth categories.”

“As packaged media continues to fade, Wal-Mart is focused on acquiring exclusive rights to music content, which enables it to sell multiple products to a consumer at one time; not just an $11.99 CD,” Greenfield wrote.

It's sad to think CDs and music are being phased out of the stores, but if music is being replaced with a high-def, high-resolution format, does that make it okay? —Leslie Shapiro

Home Media Magazine

Photo: Arun Kulshreshtha