Redbox Tries to Take on Netflix by Expanding Beyond DVD Rental Kiosks [War]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5591153/redbox-tries-to-expand-beyond-dvd-rental-kiosks-and-take-on-netflix

Redbox, the Coinstar-owned company who puts those nifty DVD rental kiosks everywhere, is apparently plotting how to take down Netflix. Step one: Offer more than 200 or so movies.

The company hopes to achieve their goal by using a web service—which appears to be a direct step into Netflix's territory. It'll have a long way to go though as Netflix currently offers "100,000 titles by mail and 20,000 older films online" and there's plenty of other competition:

Redbox also faces competition from Apple Inc. and Best Buy Co., which sell movie downloads. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, bought the Vudu Inc. online entertainment service in February and Sears Holdings Corp., the largest department store owner, said on June 22 it plans to sell and rent movies online through an agreement with Sonic.

An accord with Novato, California-based Sonic would spare Redbox the time and cost of negotiating Web rights with studios, Schackart said. Sonic technology is already in DVD players and TVs, and the company has rights to thousands of movies.

Whatever happens, I just hope that those little Redbox kiosks don't ever disappear. I kinda like seeing them tucked into odd corners. [Bloomberg]