Well that's a shame. I know they hadn't focused on it in some time (I stopped being able to find Walmart Ebook/Kobo gift cards in physical stores over a year ago, and had to start buying them digitally), but their products were still available. On the Kobo subreddit I had largely encouraged US customers to order their Kobo through Walmart rather than directly through Rakuten, as they seemed to have a better delivery/distribution system, and fewer headaches for returns/exchanges.
I think this will hurt Kobo's US presence long-term. It's especially a shame that this happens right before the color Kobo's launch, because that could've potentially made them the first widely-available color e-ink device on the market.
What is the impact to those who had their Kobo account linked to a Walmart account? My first Kobo, a Clara HD, was through Walmart, and as a result whenever I buy a book from Kobo--even directly from Kobo's site, or from the Kobo Android app--I still get a Walmart digital receipt in my inbox. Hoping this doesn't cause any longterm entanglement headaches. I have always purchased books from Kobo,
not "Walmart Ebooks", but there still seems to be that backend association.
Also, I notice that the Walmart Ebooks page now seems to be broken:
https://walmartebooks.kobo.com/hc/en-us