VUDU has been around for years. However, it was always one of those companies that we were expecting to go out of business.
We have nothing against VUDU. In fact, they are quite awesome. In case you aren’t familiar, they stream up a storm of media, all without monthly fees. Of course, you have to rent and buy content and the boxes are kind of pricey. So with so many other set-tops swirling around, VUDU’s demise seemed inevitable.
However, VUDU not only remained, but they seemed to always have something going on. For instance, many companies wanted VUDU inside their hardware products. Cut the expensive hardware out of the equation and you’d have something pretty cool.
Apparently, Walmart thinks so too. VUDU just announced that Walmart plans to purchase the streaming media company.
Right now, neither side is saying much about future plans. However, we have to assume that Walmart will do something cool with the online movie service. Maybe they will carry more VUDU products and streaming TVs, or create their own super-cheap streaming box. The retailer could also use the service to sell a variety of other products.
According to The New York Times, Walmart beat out Best Buy, Amazon.com, Comcast and Echostar for the company. All parties were said to be interested. However, when Walmart wants to buy you, we’re guessing you’ll say yes.
VUDU first launched in 2007. Since that debut, the company has put less resources into its own hardware to partner with a variety of mainstream manufacturers. At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, VUDU announced that by the end of 2010, they would be streaming to products made by LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba and VIZIO.
