Wal-Mart only gave a brief denial of the reports, which lead analysts to suggest that Wal-Mart was indeed a supporter of HD-DVD and that they were searching for a mass amount of players in the format.
We may not know where Wal-Mart stands until the holidays or even beyond and for now the retailer will continue to sell players and discs in both formats.
On the manufacturing end, Toshiba said it will continue to license its HD-DVD technology to Chinese manufacturers in the hopes the prices of HD-DVD players will continue to plummet. Toshiba's current entry level bargain player, sold at $399 USD, is widely considered to be sold at below cost price, and $399 is still pretty expensive and aimed mostly at early adopters not the casual consumer.
Source:
Arstechnica