Walmart Adds New Hi-Tech Devices and More Ways to Save For the Always-Connected Life

BENTONVILLE, Ark., May 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As customers continue to pursue money-saving ways to build a connected life through technology and home entertainment, Walmart today announces a bundle of new products, new Rollbacks and new experiences arriving in its Home Entertainment departments nationwide and online at Walmart.com. Today's announcement introduces more ways to save and new technologies that keep Americans connected inside and outside the home.

"Starting this month, customers will discover more high quality internet-ready home entertainment products, new wireless technologies and new mobile devices in stores and online that offer simple, affordable solutions for creating a more connected life," said Gary Severson, senior vice president, Home Entertainment, Walmart U.S. "We also continue to design a well-defined shopping experience in Entertainment that enables customers to find what they need quickly, learn about new technology, compare prices among top brands, and every day find amazing value. Our commitment to the best price and surprising value is always a top priority."

New Products for the Connected Living Room

• More Streaming Blu-ray Players than Ever Before: Rolling to Walmart stores next week will be a 50 percent increase in assortment of internet content streaming Blu-ray players from brands such as LG, Vizio, Samsung and Sony, hosting internet accessible content from Vudu, Netflix, Pandora and more.
• New Internet-ready HDTVs and LED Technology: In addition to more Blu-ray players, Walmart is expanding its offering of internet connectable HDTVs, and will create a "New Technology" HDTV Center, rolling out to 1,200 stores, to showcase new ultra-thin backlit and edge-lit LED TVs, from popular brands like LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio.
• Expanding Wireless at Home: Now a dedicated category at Walmart, wireless networking products continue will be expanded to help a fast growing market of customers find ways to simplify their wireless needs at home. New easy-to-use products like Valet and popular Belkin and Netgear offerings, with accessories, will help more customers affordably create multiple wireless connections in the home.

New Products to Connect "On the Go"

• More Mobile Broadband: Walmart will rollout a dedicated area for pay-as-you-go, no contract "Mobile Broadband" products, introducing more savings for notebook and netbook users needing internet access from anywhere. New products from Verizon, Cricket and Virgin, and exclusive product from AT&T, arrive in Walmart stores starting this weekend.
• More Ways to Save on Cellular – Introducing Common Cents:  Building off the success of StraightTalk, Walmart announces with Sprint the arrival of Common Cents – a new pay-as-you-go wireless solution that delivers an amazing value of 7-cent minutes that Round Down™ and 7-cent text messages – rolling out exclusively to 700 Walmart stores, starting May 15.
• More Offerings on Smartphones:  Walmart continues to expand assortment and selection in post-paid cellular with dedicated wireless centers and associates to help customers compare, select and activate a plan in minutes. Expanding its Smartphone assortment by close to 60 percent from last May, Walmart Wireless continuous to concentrate on offering the best assortment from all major carriers and anticipated products, such as Sprint's HTC EVOTM 4G phone coming to Walmart in a few weeks.

New Enhancements to Home Entertainment

• New and Blu Movies: Walmart continues to invest in the explosion of Blu-ray, now featuring dedicated Blu-ray offers and properties in special displays within a redesigned movie department, rolling out to all stores this summer and introducing more new movie values.
• Expanding Home Theatre: Walmart's assortment of sound bar home theater systems from brands such as Vizio and Samsung, are now arriving to more than 2,000 stores.
• Larger Screen Sizes: Nearly all Walmart stores will see an increase in 42-inch HDTV sizes and more than half will see increases in assortment of 55-inch HDTVs.

Examples of Rollbacks and Special Values:*

• More than $100 saved, LG 47-inch LED HDTV (now $1,568)
• More than $100 saved, Sony 52-inch 120HZ LED HDTV (now $2,058)
• $80 savings, Sanyo 42-inch LCD HDTV (now $548)
• $50 savings, Sony E-Reader (now $148)
• $20 savings, Magnavox Blu-ray Disc Player ($78)
• 20% savings, Vizio High Definition Sound Bar ($98)
• $20 savings on select video games: Assassins Creed 2 on Xbox360 and PS3 ($39.96) and WWE 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3 ($39.96)
• $20 eGift Card on video game pre-orders at Walmart.com, including Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo Reach, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and more
• New photo packages that provide a 50% savings vs. individual prints in 1-hr photo

New Savings Experiences in Stores and Online:

Walmart has amplified its focus on Rollbacks this spring, lowering prices of favorite products and helping customers live better in this "new normal" with more places to learn about savings and electronics choices. These examples include:

• Savings Center in HDTV:  Rolling out to more than 1,200 stores, customers will see a dedicated space for special buys and the newest Rollbacks on HDTVs.
• BillShrink: Customers can see if they are paying too much or how they can pay less in cellular wireless based on their personal usage through this new online tool, now available at www.walmart.com/billshrink.
• Trade-In for Cash: Walmart's Electronics Trade-in Program allows customers to trade in qualified unwanted electronics and earn Walmart prepaid Visa cards that can be used at Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com. More information is available at http://walmart.gazelle.com/.
• Brand Pages. Because customers continue to do more and more product research online, Walmart.com will begin hosting brand pages so that companies such as LG, Dell and Nintendo can provide more customized detail and education about their products.
• Walmart iPhone App: Launched last year, Walmart's App continues to keep mobile customers up to date on new savings and products in Electronics, with capabilities to search by use, characteristics and price.
• New HP Photo Publishing Solutions: New HP self-serve instant-print kiosks now rolling out to all stores are designed with efficiency-driven features to reduce wait time and deliver higher quality "prints in minutes" at excellent value.

About Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), or "Walmart," serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,400 retail units under 55 different banners in 15 countries. With fiscal year 2010 sales of $405 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.0 million associates worldwide. A leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity, Walmart ranked first among retailers in Fortune Magazine's 2009 Most Admired Companies survey. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting www.walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Walmartnews. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com and www.samsclub.com.

* Prices and availability may vary in AK, HI, OK, NM, WI and at Walmart.com.

SOURCE Walmart