Target shifts UMD space to DVD

JULY 20 | Target Corp. is pulling PlayStation Portable movies from store shelves, following the lead of some studios and other large retailers to cut back on the format.

Sources said the decision was made during the past several weeks, with store locations nationwide instructed to remove movies on the Universal Media Disc format for PSP from shelves and return them to Target distribution centers.

Target executives had no comment last week, but visits to three Los Angeles-area stores confirmed the UMDs had been pulled from shelves nationwide. No in-store discounting to sell off the stock was planned, with all UMD movies destined for sale via Target’s online store, store sources said.

At one location, customers looking for UMDs were told that although they’re no longer on the floor, the movies would remain in the stockroom for up to 10 days, and employees would be happy to retrieve specific titles as long as they were still on site. The floor space that previously held UMD movies has been restocked with DVDs.

Consumers have chafed at paying up to $10 more for the same title on UMD than DVD, and some industry observers believe sales have been impacted by tech-savvy PSP users downloading films onto PSP memory cards using software that is not necessarily legal but readily available.