Wal-Mart exec joins Apple video efforts

A prominent Wal-Mart executive will soon be directing important initiatives at Apple, reports suggest. Kevin Swint, the head of Wal-Mart's digital media section, is said to be leaving his current company to join Apple this week. In working for his new host, Swint will be in charge of international movie and TV content, a position that is becoming increasingly important as Apple expands its video efforts to countries outside the US. Currently, Canada and the United Kingdom are the only foreign iTunes Stores with TV shows, and neither rents or sells movies.

Some controversy may stem from the fact that Swint was involved Wal-Mart's online video store, which shut down last month and is unlikely to return in the near future. The closing was not initially triggered by Wal-Mart however, but rather by HP, which provided the backbone content system. The latter company cited poor sales, despite Wal-Mart's shop having only been in operation for 10 months.

Filed under: Investor, Apple
Other story tags: iTunes, video, Wal-Mart