PC Advisor - Woolworth's has pulled its support for HD-DVD and will no longer stock videos that feature the next-generation, high-definition DVD format.
The U.K. retailer made the decision based on the strength of sales of Blu-ray DVDs during the holiday shopping season, when discs that use Sony' Corp.'s high-definition video format outsold HD DVDs by a 10-to-1 margin.
F.W. Woolworth Co., which was among the original U.S. five-and-dime stores, converted mostly to the sporting goods chain Foot Locker Inc. early this century and closed all of its Woolworth's stores except those in the U.K.
The company said the primary reason why Blu-ray outsold HD DVD is because Sony PlayStation 3 devices play Blu-ray discs.
"Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving toward one format of high-definition DVD. There are over three quarters of a million homes in the U.K. that can view Blu-ray because the discs can be played on a PlayStation 3 console. There is nowhere near that number of HD-DVD players around," said Woolworth DVD buyer Steven McGunigel.
HD-DVDs will still be available online from Woolworth's, however.
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