Target Rep Confirms: UMDs "Discontinued" Nationwide
- July 19, 2006 00:00 AM PST
As a follow-up to last week's story, Target has officially confirmed to GamePro that is has "discontinued" its UMD movie selection.
The UMD: R.I.P. at Target
A member of Target's "Guest Relations" team has confirmed to GamePro that the retail giant no longer carries UMD movies for the PSP.
"[UMD movies] have been discontinued and aren't available at any of our stores," the e-mail reads. This comes as final proof that the company has discontinued its UMD movie selection in its brick and mortar stores, though the company still lists a sizable selection on its web site. It's unknown if the company will stop selling UMD movies online, as well.
In a story last week, GamePro reported that a customer service representative indicated that UMDs were no longer for sale at Targets nationwide. This latest e-mail officially confirms the news.
As the seasons pass and new models... become available, we'll discontinue some older merchandise. That's how we keep our shelves stocked with the unique, up-to-date merchandise you've come to expect from Target."
-- customer service e-mail from Target
Sony's portable UMD movie format has struggled for acceptance since the PSP's release in early 2005. A recent Reuters story 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."
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."
The future for UMD doesn't exactly look rosy, does it?
This could be bad news for the PSP in general. If Sony dropped the UMD format altogether -- even for games -- it could release a thinner, smaller, and lighter PSP revision that boasted far better battery life.
But how could they sell games without UMD? Use memory sticks? Looks like the PSP is stuck with UMD, at least for the moment.
