• TechHive reports that Walmart has begun selling its Vudu Spark streaming USB dongle, which allows consumers to plug into their TV sets and rent or purchase content from the Walmart-owned Vudu service, for just $25.
The story notes that "the Vudu Spark’s release is another sign that it isn’t enough to just provide an online storefront - you need to give TV lovers an easy and affordable way to watch the media you sell on their big-screen TVs ... Walmart seems uniquely qualified to get the booming streamer dongle market an added boost, too, thanks in big part to its devotion to low prices. Sure enough, at $25, the Vudu Spark is $10 less than the Chromecast ($35) and $15 less than the Fire TV Stick ($40). Meanwhile, Roku’s Streaming Stick retails around $50 and Microsoft’s Miracast will cost you around $60. All of those are fairly inexpensive, but $25 moves streaming dongles solidly into the impulse-buy range."
The story notes that "the Vudu Spark’s release is another sign that it isn’t enough to just provide an online storefront - you need to give TV lovers an easy and affordable way to watch the media you sell on their big-screen TVs ... Walmart seems uniquely qualified to get the booming streamer dongle market an added boost, too, thanks in big part to its devotion to low prices. Sure enough, at $25, the Vudu Spark is $10 less than the Chromecast ($35) and $15 less than the Fire TV Stick ($40). Meanwhile, Roku’s Streaming Stick retails around $50 and Microsoft’s Miracast will cost you around $60. All of those are fairly inexpensive, but $25 moves streaming dongles solidly into the impulse-buy range."
- KC's View:
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Walmart, like Amazon and Apple, wants to create its own ecosystem. It's smart, because it captures more and more of the consumer's behavior, which allows Walmart then to target that shopper even more.
