In an announcement to customers, Vudu noted that nothing will change with the Vudu viewing experience. User content libraries will stay intact and the Vudu app will still be accessible across all devices.
Walmart has been considering the sale of the platform for some time. We reported in October 2019 that Walmart had weighed its options and decided that, rather than putting more resources into the streaming service to become competitive, the company would considering selling. While the retail giant expressed an interest in growing Vudu to become a competitor for Amazon Prime Video, the increase in services launching and growing may have made that plan less viable. Instead, the interest dwindled as the company turned its focus to online ordering and grocery pickup.
“We will continue to invest in areas where we have the greatest strength and are in the best position to serve our customers today and in the future,” a Walmart spokesperson noted in a statement, reported by Tech Crunch.
“Pickup and delivery are great examples of how we’ve invested to bring digital and physical capabilities together to better serve our customers, by offering more choice and convenience. We’re focused on serving customers through these type of omni-retail experiences and we’re actively prioritizing our investments to maximize our strengths and serve them in new ways,” they added.