Wal-Mart denied reports that it had placed an order with Fuh Yuan, a Taiwan supplier for ultra-cheap HD DVD players that could swing the format wars in that direction.
"The article… was full of inaccuracies and we had no participation in it," a spokeswoman of WalMart said in an e-mail to PC Magazine. "Most of the facts, including the purchase, were untrue," she added. "Not sure how it originated."
On Thursday, the following statement appeared on Fuh Yuan's site:
"We are sorry to correct the statement that we have two million HD-DVD players order from Wal-Mart and manufactured by China Great Wall Group," Fuh Yuan said. "The actuality is that we had not received yet. We are asked to provide the schedule to Wal-Mart and cost to determine the quantity even more than two million, if the cost is good enough and timing is correct. So the capacity is under consideration. Any qualified manufactured base group will be welcome."
WalMart plans to sell both formats until a winner emerges. "Today, we sell both Blu-ray and HD DVD in our stores nationwide (approx. 750 stores). As with all new technologies, we are committed to providing the best value on products that customers choose as most relevant to them. With new industry developments, we will make shifts in our selections as customer preferences evolve and they vote with their purchase," the company said in a statement.
Currently, WalMart sells both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, including Philips' $900 Blu-ray BDP900/37 player and Toshiba's $350 HD-D1 HD-DVD player.