Walmart is rumored to be the next contestant in the streaming arena, based on the report from The Information. The retail giant is working on its own video streaming provider platform to compete with Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
How does Walmart get into the already saturated market? By selling its service cheaper, of course.
The report states that Walmart plans to offer it at $8/mo or lower. Netflix and Amazon are dominating the East and West coast cities because that’s where the money is.
But Walmart wants to cater towards Americans living in the midwest and other areas where Netflix and Amazon haven’t had their stake yet.
Both Netflix and Amazon are charging about $8 at the bare minimum. Netflix recently raised the price for 4K streaming and its mid-tier plan and Amazon just increased the price for their Prime membership- which is required to get Amazon Instant Video. Walmart could sneak in and dominate the lower-budget market by offering its service to middle Amerca. They’ll have to compete with Netflix and Amazon regardless of what demographic they want to target.
However, Walmart may offer it for free using an ad-based kind of like the Roku device which runs by the same concept. Walmart currently owns Vudu which is a service for buying and renting movies. But its nowhere near the popularity of Netflix or Amazon.
Walmart has also partnered with Microsoft to develop cashierless stores.
Writer and journalist for almost a year. Doing this for fun. Learned a lot along the way. I’m interested in businesses and the moves they make, tech and how it changes the world, and of course, enjoy playing some video games! I enjoy console and PC, but mostly RPGs, FPS, and League of Legends.