Blu Ray Technology

The HD DVD format is reeling from another body blow. The nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Friday that it would sell movies and players only in the rival Blu-ray format at its 4,000 discount stores and Sam's Clubs. Wal-Mart said it would continue to sell its HD DVD inventory over several months, then devote more shelf space to Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray. The announcement from the country's biggest seller of DVDs comes amid a growing number of defections from the Toshiba Corp.

This year Blu-ray won the bitterly fought high-definition disc war when rival HD-DVD gave up. To celebrate the victory, which left it with no real rivals in the high-def realm, Blu-ray did what most monopolies do: raise prices. "In the middle of the format wars, you had Sony and Samsung Blu-ray players on special for $299," said Paul Erickson, an analyst at DisplaySearch. "After the war was over, it went to $399." But no more.