3D television screens for the home are relatively new. Sony (SNE) has said that it will base a good deal of its future as a consumer electronic company on the technology. Samsung and Panasonic have aggressively entered the market. One drawback to the new products is that the 3D glasses used to view programming can cost as much as $150.

But, almost all the significant electronics firms will launch 3D television products within the next year, because no one wants to miss what may end up as a very big market. Research firm iSuppli Corp expects 78 million 3D sets to be sold worldwide in 2015. The price that consumers will pay should drop below $1,000 by then as well.

Walmart (WMT) has decided not to wait for 3D television sales to reach a level of significant consumer adoption before entering the business. It will begin to sell the sets this year.

According to MarketWatch, Gary Severson, head of Wal-Mart’s entertainment division, said the company will start to offer 3D televisions in some of its stores in the second half of 2010. “We are going to be instrumental in helping to bring the costs down and bring more affordable 3-D experience to customer. We are excited about it.”

The move puts Walmart into the “early adopter” stage of consumer electronics retailing, a place Best Buy (BBY) had dominated. Walmart’s purchasing power and its ability to spend tremendous sums on marketing should allow it to flank its rival. The move is also a way for the world’s largest retailer to brand itself as a place where customers can come for advance electronics products like next-generation televisions, DVD players,  and PCs.

Walmart recently bought Vudu which streams movies over the internet to set-top boxes and some TVs which already have special chips to receive the content.Walmart almost certainly views the electronics business as a way to offset eroding sales of its traditional merchandise which has slowed in the US, flattening same-store numbers year to year.

Walmart’s wants to be the largest consumer electronics retailer in the US, and the company is investing enough so that it may make it.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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