Apple and Wal-Mart may be negotiating a deal that would give the big-box retailer a cut of iTunes movie download sales in exchange for selling digital download coupons. According to Variety, the alliance would make movie studios feel more comfortable about adding their libraries to the iTunes Store.
So far, only Disney has signed on to offer movie downloads through the iTunes Store. Fox, Universal and Lionsgate were ready to join, too, but backed out after Wal-Mart pressured them to offer it the same download terms Apple was asking for. The retailer is reported to be working on its own movie download service.
Reports surfaced earlier this year that Wal-mart was pressuring movie studios to lower the wholesale price on DVDs so that it could match prices at the iTunes Store, fearing that it would lose in-store sales to online downloads.
There is no word on the current status of Apple’s negotiations with Wal-Mart.