Filed under: iPhone
Walmart will sell iPhones starting Dec. 28
Walmart will be taking a pass for most of the holiday shopping season with one particular item: the iPhone. It will begin selling the handset December 28, according to Jamie Townsend, of research firm JRPG.
Boy Genius Report also notes that the phone will be sold in some Sam's Club stores as well. The blog broke the news about Walmart's talks with Apple, but originally said the smartphone would hit shelves last Saturday.
Walmart seems to be capitalizing on post-holiday shopping fervor, with BGR's Zach Epstein speculating, "Won't people be happy when they find out Apple's handsets popped up at discount prices three short days after Christmas?" It depends on how meager Christmas is, I suppose.
The handsets will apparently be activated in-store. No pricing details were released.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andrew Carson said 1:05PM on 11-19-2008
Sorry, this marks a downfall for me.
Let us mourn...
Reply
aaron said 1:08PM on 11-19-2008
The "Elitist" in me is not liking this news...at all.
Reply
ChrisM70 said 1:26PM on 11-19-2008
I thought Apple wanted their brand to be considered upscale?
Selling at Wal-Mart is about as low-end, bargain-bin, as you can get.
Sure, Apple will sell more phones, but is it really that important? Apple never lowers their prices to match comparable PC products, partly to keep up an image that Apple products are "higher end". But now, you can get the phones at Wal-Mart? Kind of undercuts the classy image.
Reply
Squid7085 said 2:29PM on 11-19-2008
Yes, and Sony selling their PS3 and TV's at Wal-Mart has demoted them from an "Upscale" company. Selling at Wal-Mart opens up a HUGE market that had not been seen.
Look at it this way, currently to get an iPhone where I live right now for college (Pittsburg, KS) you must drive to either a Best Buy, AT&T store, or an Apple Store. The closest Apple store is in Kansas City, closest (Corporate) AT&T store is in Joplin, MO. Now, every town with more than 2,000 people has a Wal-Mart. There you go. This is just expanding the distribution base.
However, having always been an Apple user, and one of the first to have an iPod in 2001 and standing in line to shell out $600 for the first iPhone. I also miss the days of being the only one, but hell, I also own Apple Stock, so I will survive, as I have in the past with their stock. :-)
Izzy said 4:28PM on 11-19-2008
@ Squid Obviously they have those intertube things in Kansas, so you can buy your iPhone at www.att.com or www.apple.com
No need to get on your horse and ride to White-Trash-World to get your phone!
ChrisM70 said 1:32PM on 11-19-2008
The only excuse I could make for Apple is that Jobs & Co. understand that the economy is going to get REALLY, REALLY BAD this next year, and they felt they needed to make some concessions to expand market share so they could better weather the recession?
That's my thought. Of course, I still don't like Wal-Mart.
Reply
Biomech said 1:43PM on 11-19-2008
Now everyone truly will have an iPhone, just like the iPod. Apple's popularity almost hurts them sometimes... but they're plenty of money so they're happy.
Reply
Patriks7 said 4:07PM on 11-19-2008
Hopefully people won't start referring to all phones as iPhones like they call all MP3 players iPods :p
Andy S. said 1:47PM on 11-19-2008
Somehow I doubt that the iPhone will be discounted specifically at Wal-Mart. If Apple allowed *any* retailer to discount current-model Apple products, they'd be cannibalizing sales at Apple stores, and that would be *stupid*.
Odds are that if Wal-Mart does begin selling the iPhone, it'll be at the same price as everywhere else, or at best (worst?), they'll throw in an iTMS gift card or something for free with the purchase.
Honestly, the most likely and realistic downside to this is that selling through Wal-Mart is going to expose Apple to people who otherwise would not have had exposure to the iPhone via Apple stores, Best Buy, or even friends. In other words, a less tech-savvy crowd. People who still use AOL over dialup on their Windows 98 computer. People who have never owned a cell phone that wasn't free with a new contract. People who have possibly heard of MP3s, but couldn't tell you what they are. I hope Apple is prepared to find their Genius Bars choked with people who would have trouble using a digital watch, much less an iPhone.
Reply
codeyh82 said 1:48PM on 11-19-2008
Wow, the comments above are borderline shallow.
the iPod family is already in stores.. and it's not like Wal-Mart's going to get it for any less than the AT&T stores have it for. So what's the problem?
Reply
ChrisM70 said 1:54PM on 11-19-2008
It's not that Apple is going to let them sell if for less (probably), my complaint is more about what Wal-Mart stands for.
If apple started letting Walgreen's or carts at the mall sell iPhones, even at regular price, wouldn't you think less of Apple for letting a low-end company with very little customer service or quality control sell their product?
Wal-Mart has very little customer service and very little quality control. They just like selling stuff CHEAP.
Reply
Andy S. said 1:56PM on 11-19-2008
Afterthought: Financially speaking, this could be a boon to Apple in terms of profits from add-ons, such as AppleCare and app store sales. Just think of how much money they could make from the Wal-Mart crowd on sales of deer hunting, fishing, and NASCAR simulators alone!
Reply
alf said 1:59PM on 11-19-2008
i concur with codeyh82. sprawl-mart has been selling ipods for yrs, via an end-cap in every store, so adding the iphone to the list isn't changing much. as for price, i doubt it'll be less than $199, for that could open pandora's box - nice and wide! i hate wally world just as much as everyone else on here, but pushing apple further into the market is good for all of us no?
Reply
Ryan said 2:15PM on 11-19-2008
so.............what's the problem with Wal-mart selling iPhones?
Who cares? The same $200 buys an iPhone at the Apple Store as it does in Wal-mart....I think.
Reply
Ghoti said 2:26PM on 11-19-2008
I guess I'm the only one that doesn't hate Walmart here. And like it or not, with the popularity of the iPhone, it was bound to happen sometime. First Best Buy, now Walmart. The same thing happened with the Razr, and I welcome the news. Now I'll be able to walk into Best Buy or Walmart and find some accessories for my iPhone, and not have to pay the premium charged by buying it at the Apple Store or the AT&T Store. More stores = more competition = better prices, maybe not on the phone itself, but certainly with other things that go with it.
Jobs & Co. need to be assigned some of the blame if you're pointing fingers too. They are the ones that decided to drop the price to $199 in an effort to make it more affordable. By making it more affordable, it was pretty much a given that wider availability was going to happen too.
Regarding the tech-savviness or lack thereof with Walmart's clientele, that's just being closed minded. All kinds of people shop there, not just the non "tech-savvy".
And talking about how it will hurt the "classy image" you feel by having an iPhone, get over yourselves. If it takes a phone (and it's limited availability) to give you a sense of importance, then you need to seriously reconsider exactly what in life is important. It's a friggin phone. I like the phone, both my wife and I have one, but truthfully, it doesn't matter a bit to me how many people have the phone. Having everyone walking around with one does not make the phone any less appealing.
Enough with this elitist crap.
Reply
typ356 said 2:43PM on 11-19-2008
Wal-Mart means lower prices.
$149 and $249
Reply
ChrisM70 said 2:48PM on 11-19-2008
The fact is that Wal-Mart has TERRIBLE customer service. When you ask people what the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Wal-Mart, most people say "cheap", or "low prices".
If customer service and a good shopping experience doesn't mean anything, then why did Apple open it's own stores? They could have continued having their products sold at Best Buy, CompUSA and other local computer stores. Apple recognized that these stores did AWFUL jobs explaining their products and helping the customer. So, they opened their own stores that were classy, minimal and cool. You don't think that the look of a store and its image has any effect on how people view things?
Of course it does.
Yes, when you go to Wal-Mart to buy your iPhone, it is surely "just a phone", but the shopping experience will be terrible, because Wal-Mart stores are overcrowded with merchandise, and has a bargain-bin feel.
If you consider that an "elitist" view - then so be it.
Reply
BJ Nemeth said 6:05PM on 11-19-2008
@ChrisM70: "When you ask people what the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Wal-Mart, most people say 'cheap', or 'low prices'."
Is that such a horrible thing?
I get it; you don't like Wal-Mart, and you would never shop there. But millions of other people (including my tech-savvy self) DO shop there. Why does that bother you so much?
There are times when I like a customer-service style shopping experience, like at the Apple Store. There are other times when I like a stay-out-of-my-way-while-I-get-what-I-came-for experience. I've had nothing but satisfying shopping trips to Wal-Mart, for a wide variety of items (food, DVDs, electronics, furniture, bath towels, etc.).
Some of the comments in this thread remind me of the debate going on about gay marriage in California. How in the world does selling iPhones in Wal-Mart affect you or your iPhone?
ChrisM70 said 7:33PM on 11-19-2008
@BJ Nemeth:
BJ, hold on, man. Calm down. You don't need to be dragging gay rights into this mess! :) (Something I completely support, BTW)
Why do I not like Wal-Mart? Well...
I've lived in a small town where the WHOLE city became Wal-Martburg. I actually worked for Wal-Mart for 4 years, in fact. There were few other real business or local-owned shops left because Wal-Mart pushed them out by expanding into auto repair, selling food, selling gas, etc. They were the only game in town.
I also despise Wal-Mart's labor practices (locking employees in the building? encouraging employees to file for public assistance because they refuse to pay them a living wage?!?). Wal-Mart also sells a lot of cheap and shoddy foreign products in their stores so they can keep those "everyday low prices".
Most people don't care about worker's rights, whether products are American-made or if Wal-Mart is making massive profits while crippling small towns. They just care that the stuff they get is CHEAP.
Those are the reasons I find Wal-Mart horrible.
As for the issue of cheap, please read my comment again. Companies PURPOSELY create feelings around their products.
Lexus, Cadillac, Louis Vuitton = class, elegance and style.
Ford Taurus, Payless Shoes, Wal-Mart = low cost, cheap, economy
There's nothing wrong with being a economy brand. I've bought Shasta cola, and liked it! But, Apple has worked for years to create a brand that is built on class, style and giving customers good service and high-quality products. Whether or not you like Wal-Mart, it's a fact that consumers think that Wal-Mart is an economy brand, and I think that Apple might be making a mistake by being linked to them.
Example: What if Wal-Mart started selling discounted Rolex watches? Wouldn't you immediately think that Rolex must not be as classy as you thought they were, since they were now being sold not far from the snack bar?
I hope I've made myself clear.
BJ Nemeth said 12:47AM on 11-20-2008
@ChrisM70: I never should have mentioned the gay rights controversy, even in passing. My comment reminded me so strongly of that controversy, that I mentioned it without considering the consequences. I apologize for bring it up.
Also, I respect your opinion on Wal-Mart much more than I did before, because you've made it clear that you came to that opinion thoughtfully and based on a lot of information. I don't agree with all your points, but I do respect your opinion.
However, I do disagree strongly with your final point, about Apple's brand image taking a hit for selling the iPhone at Wal-Mart.
First, I think there is little evidence of this, as Wal-Mart has been selling millions of iPods for several years, and nobody has suggested that Apple's brand has diminished as a result. What makes you think that will happen to the iPhone when it didn't happen to the similarly-cool and similarly-priced iPod?
I'm sure there are people out there who buy Apple products primarily for the logo, just like there are people who buy certain designer clothes so other people can see the label. But that is not the key to Apple's success. There are millions of us who buy Apple products for what's on the inside, and not the logo that's on the outside.
Selling Apple products at Wal-Mart might affect some of those name-brand consumers, but that group is tiny compared to the millions of potential new customers that Wal-Mart exposes to Apple's products.