Word has (been?) leaked that Wal-Mart will discount key items in electronics and other departments starting on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. While Wal-Mart claims no knowledge of the leaks, after pricing details showed up on the internet in advance in pervious years, I would imagine they have a fairly stringent security process. Which makes me think they have “leaked” certain details to create a promotional buzz, at the cost of giving the competition time to respond.
Wal-Mart tried to avoid deep discounts last year and suffered some sales loss as a result (profit loss is another matter, and hard to guess). This year they seem determined to take a different path, and indicate to the market that they will be the low price provider on certain items designed to get people into the stores, where they may buy more profitable products.