Skip to Content

Best Buy will sell iPhones

by Dave Caolo Aug 13th 2008 at 9:00AM

MacNN is reporting that US big box store Best Buy will begin selling iPhones on September 7th. The move could help reduce the long lines that are still developing at Apple and AT&T stores. You may remember a rumor about this last month.

Best Buy has been slowly developing a retail relationship with Apple. A few years ago, certain locations were given Mac minis to sell. That program has matured to the "mini stores" in place today. AppleInsider suggests that a major overhaul of the mobile phone departments at all Best Buy locations was the step that finally convinced Apple to hand over the iPhone.

So, will Best Buy move many iPhones? I still encounter much anti-Apple sentiment from hardcore Windows lovers, and big electronics stores can be an epicenter for that type of thing. However, it seems to be reserved to Apple's computers.

My hope is that the staff is well trained, as I'm sure we all remember the unpleasant experience of shopping for Macs at Circuit City several years ago.

View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Retail iPhone

MacNN is reporting that US big box store Best Buy will begin selling iPhones on September 7th. The move could help reduce the long lines...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

17 Comments

Filter by:
customer care

Brand new mobile phone with complete accessories and all comes with one year international warranty and 30days return policy.

E-mail:(sales_enquiry@live.com)
E-mail:(sales_enquiry@gawab.com)
E-mail:(inquiry_electsltd@yahoo.com)

Apple iphone 3G 16gb.......$320usd
Blackberry 9000 Bold.......$320usd
Nokia 8800 Arte............$445usd
Samsung omnia i900.........$305usd
HTC Touch Diamond .........$350usd
Nokia n96 16gb.............$320usd
Apple iphone 16gb..........$300usd
Sony ericsson xperia x1....$315usd
HTC Touch PRO.... .........$380usd
Apple iphone 8gb...........$200usd
Nokia n95 8gb..............$250usd
Samsung i8510 16GB(NEW)....$275usd

And many more....................

Sony ericsson xperia x1 speciffication..

General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 / 1700

Size Dimensions 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm

Weight 145 g

Display Type TFT touchscreen, 65K colors

Size 800 x 480 pixels, 3 inches
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Optical joystick navigation

Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3
Customization Composer, download

Vibration Yes

Memory Phonebook 1000 x 20 fields, Photo call

Call records 30 received, dialed and missed calls
Card slot microSD (TransFlash)
- 400 MB internal memory
- 128MB RAM, 256MB storage memory
- Qualcomm MSM7200 528MHz processor

Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
HSCSD No
EDGE Yes
3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g

Delivery Lead Time:2/3 working days UPS/FedEx express couirer service.

TO PLACE ORDERS/TO BUY/MAKE AN ENQUIRY,:::KINDLY EMAIL US TODAY AT.....Company's E-mail address below

E-mail:(sales_enquiry@live.com)
E-mail:(sales_enquiry@gawab.com)
E-mail:(inquiry_electsltd@yahoo.com)

Yours Sincerely,
Sales Team

September 08 2008 at 7:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Craig

Ben - no, you can't use an iPhone as an iPod. It is useless except for 911 calls without activation.
My hope is that BestBuy FINALLY sells iPhones in Puerto Rico. Apple seems to have forgotten that Puerto Rico is USA. Why can Ivory Coast and Dominican Republic sell iPhones, but Puerto Rico can't????????

August 13 2008 at 2:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
diamonddogs

Seems inevitable since Best Buy now own half of Carphone Warehouse over here, one of the main stockists of iPhones...

August 13 2008 at 2:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jalvarogutierrez

Any of you guys knows if it will be sold without a contract? That would be great.

Alvaro

August 13 2008 at 12:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ben Stafford

Anyone know if you can just use the iphone as an ipod touch if you don't activate it?

August 13 2008 at 12:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
CZ

The Best Buy in Meridian Township in Michigan has an Apple sales section, staffed by an actual Apple employee (or two). The demos all work and are maintained well, the store stands behind their Apple sales (and Geek Squad makes a killing "setting up" people's first MacBook/iMac for them) and the selection of accessories and software is pretty decent.

The only problem I have is their desire to "set up" your Mac for a nominal fee-- They push that really hard (probably the only way Best Buy makes any money on the sale of a Mac). Honestly, what is there to "set up" on a Mac? You power it on, it asks you some questions, registers the computer, and then sends you on your way. In fact, I ENJOY the initial log-in with a new Mac OS X installation. The boppy music, the user friendliness... I hate to think new Apple owners are missing out on that experience because Best Buy wants to gank some money for doing essentially NOTHING.

I consider the first start-up of OS X to be a great introduction to the world of Apple products. It's disarming. It makes the user feel a little less intimidated. It's not like Windows at all.

While Windows is all "WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Papers, please! What's the password? Hold on while I call this in and make sure you're not an INTRUDER." The Mac experiences is more like, "Oh, dude, you're here! Welcome! How's it hanging? So, what should I call you? Where do you hang out? Wanna try a hit of this groovy Mobile Me? No? It's OK, dude; No pressure. Go right in, man."

I picture Windows setup looking like the cold war-era East German border guards or the Gestapo. I picture OS X setup looking like Tommy Chong or George Carlin.


August 13 2008 at 11:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to CZ's comment
Øivind

What's the problem with setting up the Mac if you install Perian, flip4mac, Adium, OnyX, a few extra browsers, other files that makes the transition from Windows easier and give the customer a brief introduction on how to install software, how the file structure works etc?

August 13 2008 at 4:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
CZ

The problem? It costs $40 to $60 for the "Service" when it's something that the average new Mac user can probably figure out on their own. That money would be better spent on a copy of "The Missing Manual" or some other Mac starter book for switchers.

Either way, Best Buy doesn't install Perian, Flip4Mac, browsers, or anything else unless the person buying the Mac supplies the software (or they buy it from Best Buy, which you can't do with most of those). The Best Buy "set up" process includes the following:

1. Start-up your computer.
2. Register your information and Log you in.
3. Run Disk Utility to check the drive.
4. Turn on the firewall.
5. Shut down. Charge $$$ for your service.

That's lame. Sorry. If you want them to install software, then I suppose that's worth something to a complete idiot who can't figure out how to do so themselves (although since it's a Mac, and the process is either "double click" or "insert disc" in most cases, I hardly think it's worth a fee.)

We're not talking about the Apple Store or local Mac dealer. We're talking about Geek Squad here. Most of them hate Macs anyway.

August 13 2008 at 8:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
david

anyone have any idea if this means you can pay cash and sign up the account at home or is it the same damn thing as the apple store? cuz i dont have a credit card and its a piss off to set up account at the store.

August 13 2008 at 11:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Allyn

Your story doesn't touch on this, but I assume that Best Buy will be activating the phones as well. How is Best Buys relationship with ATT? I guess this is a none issue since they have been activating, or retail stores have been activating phones for sometime now.

August 13 2008 at 10:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bjmartin55

SSDD at our local Best Buy in Bellingham, WA. Nice Mac display but none of them were running. Booted up all the demo models. No salesperson approached me while I was there.

August 13 2008 at 10:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to bjmartin55's comment
rTwelve

Well, we're glad you came online to complain about it to a blog.

August 13 2008 at 12:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Coard Miller

Hmm. I love how we start to sell them as soon as I leave my store. Either way, it's about time. They will sell many more iPhones this way.

August 13 2008 at 10:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.