Apple to Sell IPhones in Wal-Mart Stores This Month

[ben_meyers]

Source: Bloomberg

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will become the second mass-market retail chain to start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone, with two store representatives saying the world’s largest retailer will carry two models of the Web-surfing handset this month.

Employees in the cell-phone departments at five California stores, contacted by phone today, said Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December. Employees are currently being trained on how to sell the device, all five said.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs tapped Best Buy Co., the largest U.S. electronics retailer, in September to sell the device as he works to win more buyers. Before then, the iPhone had been sold only by Apple and AT&T Inc., the exclusive provider of wireless service for the phone in the U.S.

Analysts say Apple may offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte version through Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and sell it for $99. Apple currently sells two models at $199 and $299


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aiST65gGRwlk

---

Now there's a marriage made in hell.
Steve Jobs is dead to me.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I think they will live to regret that decision.

Walmart has never done any of its suppliers any good...

[alfredo]

6. Jobs seems really good at negotiation. I'm sure he got the better deal

than Wally World. Look how he made out against the Music industry and now Hollywood. He sure got he wanted in his sale of Pixar to Disney.

[Orsino]

74. If anyone has the mojo to stand up to Wal-Mart's demands...

...it might be Jobs--but perhaps only because the iPhone is so hot.

[Kutjara]

2. My iPhone is now no longer elitist enough for me.

I think I may need to buy a Vertu.

[tuvor]

3. They've been selling iPods for over a year at Walmart.

At least that's the case in Canada.

[pam4water]

57. Same is true in the USA.

[hlthe2b]

4. Now, I have two reasons to avoid it: AT&T AND Walmart....

NO thanks... It is appealing, but, no thanks.

[DUlover2909]

8. Credo mobile denied me, so I applied at AT&T and was accepted.

What can I do? I tried.

[Tesha]

28. Of course, you never would have considered any Apple products in the first place

as you've made clear in many, many posts. So
your statement now is pretty meaningless.

Tesha

[hlthe2b]

37. Who are you confusing me with? I actually have a MAC

I also have a PC. I have an IPOD. I do not have an Iphone, though I am tempted, because I do not trust AT&T


Who are you confusing me with? Show me the posts you think I have made that support your comments. Otherwise, you owe me an apology. :shrug:

[hlthe2b]

56. Not going to come back and correct your mistake, eh?

I'm sure we've all confused DUers based on their screen names, but when you accuse them of something attributable to another, you need to come back and acknowledge your mistake. You get a really bad reputation after awhile, when you don't.


... Not cool, Tesha.. Not cool :shrug:

[Tesha]

59. I'll be happy to reply after I've had a chance to search your posts.

Perhaps some other subject left me with a negative
impression if you. Or perhaps I'm just plain wrong --
it's been known to happen once in a while ;) .

Tesha

[hlthe2b]

60. Fascinating...

You make a mistake and instead of apologizing, inform me that I am subject to a review of my posts? Do you not see how incredibly arrogant that is? Whatever....:crazy:

[merwin]

68. Didn't you TELL Tesha to search your posts?

"Show me the posts you think I have made that support your comments."

[hlthe2b]

72. She should support her accusation. 48 hour later... nada

"She throws out the accusation and then says she is too busy to go support it" :eyes:

I'm sure she feels embarrassed that she confused me with someone else. Perhaps this is her habit. I doubt you or anyone else would appreciate someone doing the same to you.

[merwin]

81. Eh, if it's a case of mistaken identity (which it looks like) then just brush it off.

Probably embarrassment like you said.

[hlthe2b]

82. Done....

;)

[Deja Q]

47. Now using AT&T myself...

I'm diggin' it. Rollover minutes is a very nice perk.

:shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. Better than Sprint

Had them for years. Worst coverage area ever and the customer service is just nonexistent.

[merwin]

67. Not sure about their customer service, as mine is through my work, but it has saved my ass numerous

times. The speed of their EVDO network rocks. We have clients in the middle of nowhere that need high speed internet... we just take a cradlepoint router (regular wireless router with USB and PCMCIA slots for cellular extranet), plug in a sprint card, and instantly have DSL speeds. Coverage, at least in Washington, is excellent with Sprint as well.

Personally, I use T-Mobile. Insanely good price, pretty good coverage (works everywhere I need it to work), and good customer service (if you know how to work them). I have somewhat of a bias as I worked as a customer care rep for a year before moving to engineering for 6 years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

71. I live in the town where Sprint's world headquarters is located

and our coverage is horrible. Sprint said it is because too many people here are accessing the network at the same time. :crazy:

My service with AT&T has been much better. My phone works in my house - my Sprint phone only worked outside,

[merwin]

80. That could be the truth, but it's a BS line from Sprint.

If you get signal, but can't make calls, then it's too many people accessing it at the same time. If you're just not getting coverage, then it's because they're too lazy or cheap to hire proper engineers :)

[Mika]

5. Time to buy a Dell.

NOT!

[qanda]

7. Deleted

my comment was kind of childish.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. I would rather buy a cell phone at Wal-Mart than an AT&T store

I don't know what AT&T is scraping to find the scum they staff their stores with - but the wal-mart dudes have to be a huge improvement.

[Endangered Specie]

10. Apple = Sellout

I compare Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Animal Farm...

Bill Gates is the farmer, Steve Jobs is Napoleon.

AT least Bill Gates doesn't try to hide the fact he wants to rule the market and will sell out to anyone or do anything to make money.

[originalpckelly]

12. I grew up gaga for Apple, there was a time when I knew their entire product lineup...

from creation to 1999. I guess you could have called me an Apple fanboi. Now I realize that it wasn't inspiration, it was corporation.

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. Just in case there was any doubt about Apple's desire for revenue

And I'msure Apple didn't have to try too hard to get their product at WalMart, and WalMart is all too happy to
toe the line when it comes to pricing: it's good to have some high-yield items to make up for all the crap they
sell at a 1% net margin.

[originalpckelly]

13. But don't you want to "Think Different" like everyone else?

:shrug:

[Dreamer Tatum]

15. Apple doesn't want anyone to "think different." They want people to "buy stuff."

Period. Paragraph.

[originalpckelly]

16. I know...

that's what I meant. They couldn't give a shit about their customers, when was the last time you heard about Apple making an XO like laptop for poor kids? Never, because they just want to make high margin products.

They just want everyone to buy their stuff, there's nothing special about buying an Apple. Nothing, you won't become creative or get smarter, but their various adverts have brainwashed consumers into thinking it's true.

I also meant the statement as a criticism, in that everyone it seems owns an iPod these days. It's a commodity item now, and the iPhone quickly becoming that way. At least for my age group. Everyone's using it. There's nothing different about that, people are buying it to fit in, not to be different.

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. Right on

I am amused at how people (some people here, in fact) disdain advertising as leading sheep to
slaughter, but those same people seem to (a) use Macs, (b) drive Volkswagens, and (c) own iPhones.

It's a wonderful irony they've set up: buy Macs because you're too smart to buy a PC. Drive a Volkswagen
because they're sleek and our marketing campaigns are minimalist.

Know how I know the reverse psychology advertising works? Well, I've never been sneered at and ridiculed
by a PC user. Mac users? They're as thin-skinned as Rush fans.

[originalpckelly]

18. Indeed, I opened a can of whoopass on Apple and the iPod...

and you should have seen the flamewar it started. Over a stupid fucking music player, and it's only because I was pointing out that everyone who thinks they're all that for listening to one of these things is really enabling anti-competitive monopolistic tactics. Apple has 70% of the music download market, and just about the same amount of MP3 players, yet they still push FairPlay on their customers. Oh no, they blame the record companies, and while they are douches and all, you can't blame someone for not wanting to give away what they work on for a living for free. The problem with the iPod and the iTunes Store is that almost all the music in that store has FairPlay which prevents it from being played on other brands of MP3 players. Apple has shifted the argument from licensing FairPlay to other manufacturers or why not, to why not DRM-free music?

[Dreamer Tatum]

21. I VERY proudly use the Creative Zen Vision M.

And I stock it using Napster to Go.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

23. I am the last person to defend Apple but...

Apple offered to provide a version of Mac OS for the OLPC and they were told to get lost


Interestingly, Steve Jobs had offered Mac OS X free of charge for use in the OLPC program but the offer was declined. According to Seymour Papert, a professor emeritus at MIT who is one of the initiative's founders, the designers wanted an operating system that could be tinkered with, therefore Linux was chosen.

http://education.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1027485%3ABlogPost%3A32732

[47of74]

14. If Apple would let U.S. Cellular use iPhones with their network...

I'd consider buying one when my current phone stops working, which hopefully wouldn't be for another two years at the least. U.S. Cellular has pretty good coverage throughout the state of Iowa, which is a trillion times more than I could say for AT&T. Come on Mr. Jobs, get with the program already.

[TheWraith]

20. Not going to happen.

For starters, Apple's got an exclusivity deal with AT&T at least for another couple years. And even then, US Cellular is a different standard, and would require them to build two completely different models of iPhone: one that could be sold worldwide with only software changes, one that was only usable in the US on three carriers.

[merwin]

34. Making a phone work on a different technology is simple.

I'm not saying i have the personal knowlegde to do it myself, but all it takes is switching out the radio chip from GSM to whatever technology you want, then adapt the software radio stack to work with the different chip.

In fact, most phones these days are specifically designed to be able switch technologies relatively easily... larger market share and all.

[TheWraith]

38. But it also means completely recertifying it

Retesting it, getting all the required clearences again, and operating a completely seperate production line for a device that you can only sell on a few carriers. They can mass produce the current iPhone and sell it anywhere.

[merwin]

63. Why would you need a completely separate production line?

There are one, MAYBE two of the chips that are different. If the phone is even moderately popular, the cost of re-certifying and switching out the radio chip us minimal. And the iPhone definitely classifies and being well more than "moderately popular".

[tomreedtoon]

19. Who the hell buys iPhones anyway?

I love my Mac, as one of my several computers. But I would never spend that amount of STUPID money on an iPhone, or for its expensive service plan (I recall it's $100 per month).

What idiot, except a gadget addict, would need to access the Internet anywhere? Why can't he wait to go home or get to a public library to browse a freaking web page? It's a toy for egotistical yuppies. And if any egotistical yuppies shop at Wal-mart...well, they wouldn't be seen there.

It's a stupid phone, a stupid place to sell an overpriced toy, and a whole steaming truckload of stupid.

[Luminous Animal]

22. I do love my Mac...

and I won't buy an iPhone. In fact, I do not have a cell phone at all but I can see a reason to buy one. All the executives at my office have one and they have 100% interconnectivity with the Mac programs and since they are away from the office more often than not, they are pretty much on top of each other's schedules on a minute by minute basis which has gotten us out of several potential hazards over the past couple of years.

And for those who think that Apple wasn't in it for the money from they day it was born... um... what?!

[all.of.me]

27. This is the only reason I'd buy an iPhone.

You can sync all your macs, your iPod and your iPhone. I'm getting to the point of being away from work more often than not, and I'd love to have my bookmarks, email, and other programs with me. It's way more involved than that, but then I'd never have to go in to work! Sounds good to me! :D

[mondo joe]

40. Indeed. I work all over the city, and deeply appreciate my nearly

seamless connectedness thanks to my iPhone.

[Robb]

26. What idiot, except a gadget addict, would need access to a phone anywhere?

:rofl:

Sorry, I mostly agree with your point, but I seem to recall this argument made constantly for cell phones. :D

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. An idiot who wanted to keep in touch with their family

I worked for 20 years with no access to a phone all day at work. I absolutely hated it. I dealt with sick kids, a spouse who traveled and four parents in a nursing home. I played phone tag on a nearly daily basis.

As soon as cell phones hit the market, I bought one and my life literally changed overnight. It brings me great peace of mind.

[tomreedtoon]

52. And that's a point where I agree.

The only reason I eventually bought one (and a pay-as-you-go Tracfone at that) was to keep in contact with people at big conventions. And I currently have friends who wander aimlessly and I need to call them to find out where they are. I do say with pride that I succumbed to the hated electronic leash after just about everyone else started "shooting up."

So I intend to buy an iPhone in about twenty years when Tracfone offers them with 2 cent a minute complete access plans. Not before.

[Tesha]

29. You are wrong about the cost of the minimalist service plan.

It's more like $65/month (plus taxes) for
450 minutes and "all you can eat" 3G data.

Tesha

[tomreedtoon]

51. Not from what I hear, and $65 for two years is more like it.

That's what I spend on my Tracfone, which is a cell phone, which is all an intelligent person needs. Maps cost $3 at convenience stores, and you don't need to access the Internet when running from the muggers chasing you to take away your expensive, easily pawnable toy.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. You obviously don't know anything about iPhones

That poster is correct. The minimal plan is closer to $65 a month. For that you get a phone and internet access plus a lot of other features you think are crap.

Sorry you are so jealous of those of us here who have iPhones. I am even nice enough that I would let you touch my iPhone if I met you in person. If I was in a good mood that is :)

[NYCGirl]

64. And you get 5000 night and weekend minutes and rollover. I may NEVER use

up all my minutes.

[tomreedtoon]

70. I don't want your iPhone cooties.

And I know that piece of consumer-sucker crap will break as you're handing it to me. You won't blame Apple for selling you a faulty, defective, useless toy; you'll blame me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

78. My phone does not have cooties

It's also not what is defective in this conversation. :crazy:

[Tesha]

58. You can "hear" all you want, but I'm the one who signed up for the plan and pays the monthly bill.

And $65/month (plus taxes) is what I pay.

Yes, it's a two-year commitment that should
match my iPhone upgrade cycle pretty well.

Tesha

[proud2BlibKansan]

66. Zing!!

:rofl:

[tomreedtoon]

69. So you're following planned obsolescence too?

You know you're going to dump your expensive, pointless toy in two years to get an even MORE expensive and pointless toy?

You are part of the consumerist movement. Or as the boys up in the executive suite say, a "sucker."

[Tesha]

77. Bite me.

My iPhone will probably retain its value well-enough that
In two years, someone will pay enough to make the trade-up
worth my while.

Tesha

[mondo joe]

35. Me.

I always had my cellphone, my ipod, my scheduler with me. Now I just have my iphone, which has all those things plus more.

And at a price comparable with other smartphones.

[Bake]

36. Welcome to the 19th Century!

:hi:

Personally, I'm jonesing for an iPhone. Bad. And AT&T needs a little price competition. I hope they end up selling the 16 gig version.

Bake

[tomreedtoon]

50. Were you in line for a Hummer, too?

It never fails. People with too much surplus income flock to crappy toys, instead of relying on their brains and learning like we poor people have to. The iPhone is the Hummer of electronic playthings.

[Bake]

61. The iPhone isn't a gas guzzler, and it doesn't weigh three tons.

Your analogy is ridiculous.

But no, I wasn't in line to buy a Hummer. I hate the things.

Bake

[Hissyspit]

41. My monthly bill is about $70 per month, about $5 more than it was with my old phone.

"What idiot would need to access the Internet anywhere?" There are lots of good reasons, all relative.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. I have an iPhone and I love it

Best phone I have ever owned. It's also a computer. I can surf the net, check my email, take pictures and email them right after I take them, check the stock market, get the weather forecast, find a restaurant and get directions on the GPS. And the phone cost me exactly as much as the GPS system I bought my husband last year.

You have no idea what you are missing :)

[Name removed]

49. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tuttle]

73. I hate iTunes!

There are some cool parts of the iPhone; however, I must say I am underwhelmed by it, overall.

And iTunes is the worst piece of cr@p software I've ever seen (next to Quicktime for Windows). I must say, Apple has done a pretty lousy job with these two apps and if they think these will win over users, then they are sadly mistaken. If Microsoft had written iTunes, I would fully expect to see one those insipid "I'm a groovy Mac - and I'm a dour PC" commercials - with the Mac guy making fun of the PC guy, who would be trying to use iTunes and having it turn down the volume on his iPhone (!) or change the email addresses in his GMAIL account to cell phone numbers (!!)

I guess it is *insanely great* and I just don't know what that means... if you haven't guessed already, I'm PC.

Tut-tut

[WriteDown]

76. Ditto's on itunes...

I love the iphone, but hate itunes. Media Monkey can be used as an itunes semi-substitute though.

[LeftyMom]

46. Some friends and I were lost on foot in a residential part of Oakland at night.

One of us whipped out her iphone, did a little Google maps magic, and got us where we were going.

Without the phone we would probably have wandered around in circles for another hour, or until we got mugged, whichever came first.

I'd totally buy one for that capability alone, if it weren't for the whole AT&T thing.

[tomreedtoon]

48. Well, your first mistake was going to Oakland.

The second was not buying a three-dollar map instead of paying a fortune for an electronic toy.

[truthisfreedom]

24. Brilliant.

Now if they can just get the iPhone to start working right. It's the most sluggish, lard-assed device I've ever had the occasion to use in an emergency... the phone simply will not come to life in time to save anybody in an emergency.

And Apple will pay for that someday.

[Tesha]

31. You don't actually own an iPhone, do you?

Since software update 2.2, it's been very reliable
and it has always offered the best user experience
of any of the "smartphones".

Tesha

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. I have never had that problem with my iphone

Interesting.

[BunkerHill24]

25. People buy iphones and everything else on ebay.... a market without boundaries

...so why not at Wal-Mart?

[grannie4peace]

30. ditto from me!! not that that means anything except to me :):)

[PFunk]

32. I like apple a lot. Enough to have both a mac and a desktop.

And if it wasn't for AT&T I'll long since brought an Iphone. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I any mac product at Wallyworld (aka Walmart). Thank goodness for apple stores.

[eilen]

39. I have an iPhone and I really like it

we had Cingular and then AT&T bought them. If I hadn't had the service already, I would not have switched to buy the phone. I live in NY and the service is fine. My cellphone bill is large because we have a family plan and everyone has smart phones and I have a teenager who loves to text.

I don't shop at Walmart. I do like the Apple Store because I can go there any day and ask for help with something and they help me without an attitude. If I have a problem with my Mac or iPhone, I can bring it in and talk to someone about it and they usually fix it (for no charge if I have a service contract). It is like a sweet dream compared to my experiences in hell with a Dell and the nightmare of Circuit City and HP.

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. I switched to get an iPhone

[JCMach1]

33. DUers en-masse will dump their i-Phones now...

:evilgrin:

[NYCGirl]

65. Not me. The more the merrier. NT

[Waiting For Everyman]

53. I can live without a fancy phone, and I hate AT&T and all cell "plans".

I've had most of the different carriers and they're all a rip-off. And the markup on these toys is beyond belief. (I used to be in consumer electronics years ago.) So is music today for that matter. Pass.

I like my Virgin pre-paid. Had it since 1999 @ $20 every 90 days... and I've racked up quite a stock of unused rollover minutes by now. It's the only communications service I have which I feel is worth what I pay for it. And the best thing is, I'm in control of it. I never get a nasty surprise bill.

[Romulox]

62. Premium products are NOT sold at Wal Mart. Apple needs to drop the price. nt

[Lucian]

75. Now I should be able to get one and have th Dept. of Homeland Security listening to me while I talk.

[entanglement]

79. Interestingly enough, voice quality on modern mobile phones is scarcely better than it was in 1995

era phones. No phone company seems to be interested in improving that.