Register

I agree with the Privacy Policy

TMCnet

Walmart To Purchase VUDU

February 22, 2010

After abandoning its initial online video plans in late 2007, Walmart has returned to this market with the announced acquisition of VUDU on February 22. With Best Buy working with Roxio CinemaNow, will Walmart leverage the VUDU acquisition to develop its own branded connected CE products? "Walmart is re-entering the OTT (over-the-top) market at an opportune time," said Kurt Scherf, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates. "Parks Associates' consumer research of online video services indicates that usage from paying users for movie rentals, movie downloads, and TV downloads has doubled between 2008 and 2009." Parks Associates forecasts that revenues for premium video rentals and downloads in the U.S. will grow from $2.3 billion in 2010 to $8.4 billion in 2014.

Given VUDU's recent efforts to transition from a hardware vendor providing set-top boxes to a backend service provider of OTT content for connected CE devices, Parks Associates believes that this acquisition is an opportunity for Walmart to become a "category catalyst" in connected consumer electronics. VUDU currently is working with such CE vendors as LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, SANYO, Sharp, Toshiba, and VIZIO.

Parks Associates projects that by 2014, more than 40% of transactional revenues for premium online video services will be through connected devices such as connected TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, and networked digital media set-top boxes. The presence of Walmart, with its retail muscle now in the online video space, could mean significant growth in the number and availability of Web-enabled consumer electronics products.

From the article, "Walmart To Purchase VUDU"

Previously In The News

DIY Model Dominant But Not Preferred, Says Park Associates' New Research

A new tech support research conducted by Parks Associate, a market research and consulting company, revealed that though the do-it-yourself (DIY) model is dominant, but not a preferred choice for c...

Parks Associates Finds Almost Half of U.S. Broadband Households Want Automated Thermostats

In gearing up for its upcoming Smart Energy Summit, Parks Associates has released the results of new energy research which found that almost half of U.S. broadband households are very interested in...

Parks Associates Releases SMB Tech Support Market Report

Parks Associates announced new SMB technical support research showing network complexity, growth of cloud services, and BYOD trends will help drive the U.S. market to a 14.4 percent compound annual...

The Modern, Connected Home Shows Room for Stronger Broadband Solutions

According to Patrice Samuels, research analyst at Parks Associates, this influx of connected devices that connect to a home network through a router is adding new layers of complexity to the connec...

‹
1
2
...
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
›