Wal-Mart has entered the world of movie downloads, albeit with a slightly different approach than other such services. The program is launching in a beta mode and offering only Superman Returns at first. Customers purchasing a DVD copy of the movie will be offered the possibility of downloading a digital copy for an additional fee. For $1.97 USD, customers will be able to download the movie to a portable device, for $2.97 USD to a PC and for $3.97 USD to both a portable device and a PC. This approach is meant to protect Wal-Mart from cannibalizing its own DVD sales.
Wal-Mart plans to expand its service to include other DVD movies as well as standalone movies and TV shows in the next few months.
Downloads will be in the Windows Media Player format (XP and Windows Media Player 10 required on computers), thereby excluding Apple Mac and iPod users as well as Linux devices.