NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said it will start offering high-definition DVD players and discs only in Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format and phase out a rival standard by Toshiba Corp.

Netflix Inc. and Best Buy Co. said earlier this week they would also stop selling movies using Toshiba's HD-DVD format. The decisions may hurt Toshiba further as the industry decides who will win out in the biggest format war since VHS beat out Betamax in the 1980s.

The change will take place over the next several months and be completed by June, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said on Friday in a statement on its website.

"We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," Gary Severson, Wal-Mart's senior vice president for home entertainment, said in the statement.

Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment unit said in January that it would stop releasing movies in the HD-DVD standard by the end of May.