Wal-Mart to carry iPhone after holidays?
Apple could soon have another distribution channel for the iPhone: Wal-Mart.
(Credit: CNET)The largest retailer in the world could be getting the iPhone.
Wal-Mart won't have the iPhone at every location come the end of December, if a report from the Boy Genius Report is accurate. But Apple will have iPhones in 2,500 stores in the U.S. and an additional 69 Sam's Club warehouse stores on December 28, according to the report.
It's not clear what price will be charged for the iPhone inside Wal-Mart, but it would be hard to imagine Apple embracing the idea of significant discounts even though CEO Steve Jobs has talked of needing to stay aware of lower-priced competitors. Wal-Mart also offers T-Mobile's Android G1 phone, and though CNNMoney.com had reported that the famously low-price retailer would be offering the G1 for a $30 discount, a Wal-Mart store in San Leandro, Calif., was selling the G1 for the standard $179 on Wednesday morning.
Apple has shown a willingness to embrace the big-box types over the past few years. iPods can be found at retail stores across the country, and electronics behemoth Best Buy devotes significant space for all of Apple's major products inside many of its stores.
But what's surprising about this report is the timing, however: three days after Christmas? Perhaps Wal-Mart wouldn't have been able to get ready or train their staff in time for the holiday season, but with iPhone sales expected to decline slightly off last quarter's totals, you'd think Apple would have wanted a major distribution channel on line during the holiday rush.
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Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom.
This is because a 2 year AT&T contract is required to purchase an iPhone. That doesn't work when you want to give an iPhone as a surprise gift on Christmas day. And if you give someone a *gift certificate* for an iPhone as a present, that still means the phone will actually be purhcased AFTER Christmas.
So Wal-Mart not selling before Christmas really means nothing.
Merry Christmas!
- John
The handset sellers generally see a 15 percent increase in sales in the fourth quarter compared to the third, so apparently some people do spend more money on phones before the holidays than they do during other times of the year.
Are you one of those people who really would give the gift that keep on taking?
The writers are just going to have to develop a thick skin and take things at face value.
@Tom: Maybe it's just a contract thing? Wal-Mart's logistics chain has been described with some pretty weird language at times... and in downright vulgar terms at others.
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by dfl2002
December 25, 2008 11:17 AM PST
- Apple IPhone already has modem to connect to Internet.
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Reply to this comment
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(15 Comments)Why Apple does not make iPhone capable to to a modem to our Laptop??
Please answer me.
David
HiDavid11@yahoo.com