[RobertJSawyer]

Walmart's strategic partnership with Kobo isn't about their brick-and-mortar business; it's about shoring up their ecommerce business so that they can compete against Amazon. They want a digital content ecosystem to rival Amazon's in the book arena, and so asked Kobo to get into the audiobook business (Amazon owns Audible); Kobo stepped up to the plate and now can offer the same thing Amazon does: downloadable books in both text and audio form. Yes, Walmart will sell ereaders in stores, I'm sure, but they're more interested with this partnership in selling them online -- and following up by selling content to go with the devices (and selling content to Kobo iOS and Android apps).