Confirmed: Target Discontinues PSP UMD Movies
- July 12, 2006 11:50 AM PST
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Sony's fledgling portable movie format, the Universal Media Disc, is officially no longer for sale at Target stores, a customer service representative confirmed to GamePro today.
Is it lights out for UMD?
According to the employee, Target "discontinued" all UMD movies last week in "all stores." GamePro is still waiting for an official confirmation from the company's high-level representatives, but at this time, the news does appear to be true.
Sony's portable UMD movie format has struggled for acceptance since the PSP's release in early 2005. Though many films and television shows were released in the UMD format, sales have been low enough to make a Warner executive to remark that "we are re-evaluating our position on any future releases" because the studio was "disappointed with consumer demand."
A recent Reuters story, called "Sony's UMD Facing Last Rites," suggested that Wal-mart also considered pulling all UMDs from store shelves. In the Reuters piece, one unnamed movie executive says that UMD situation is "awful," and that "[UMD movie] sales are near zilch." The studio exec then twists the knife, saying "It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray." Another exec says that "No one's even breaking even on them."
Two months ago, the NPD Group, a national sales-tracking service, weighed in with a grim assessment of the UMD's future. The report concluded that, if studios continue to drop support, "the outlook for the UMD format is bleak."
**Thanks to Kotaku and Gizmodo for the tip.
Ouch. While Target isn't quite Wal-Mart, it's still one of the biggest retailers in the country.
Add in the rumors that Wal-Mart is considering pulling UMDs as well, and you've got some seriously bad ju-ju. I've also noticed that UMD releases have slowed to a trickle in the last few months -- GoodFellas never even made it out.
