Shacking up: iPhone sales plan at RadioShack sparks rally

It's been in the rumor mix for well over a year now, first popping up in connection with the iPhones-at-Walmart & Best Buy deal, but now the cat is out of the bag and rummaging around in the shelves full of diodes, UHF antennas and talking robots: late last Friday, RadioShack announced that it would begin selling the iPhone in a few NYC and Dallas stores in time for the holiday shopping rush, with wider availability to begin in 2010.

While the addition of another retail outlet to the mix of stores (including AT&T and Apple's own operations) that carry the iPhone may not do a whole lot for general availability of the device -- frankly, if you can't find an iPhone 3GS near where you are, you can get one online in a jiffy -- it certainly did a lot for RadioShack's investors. The stock was up over 14% on the first trading day since the announcement, with analysts suggesting that the presence of the iPhone may help to drive up in-store traffic for the Shack during the busy holiday season and year-round.

Let's think about that for a second. Just having the iPhone in the shop for shoppers to fondle, nuzzle and take home as their very own is considered, in the eyes of the market, a material advantage for an electronics chain with nearly 5,000 US stores.

You've come a long way, baby.

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Source: http://ir.radioshackcorporation.com/releasedetail.cfm?Releas…

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Retail iPhone

It's been in the rumor mix for well over a year now, first popping up in connection with the iPhones-at-Walmart & Best Buy deal, but...

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Chris

The stock is up because no one just buys an iphone, which probably has a very small profit margin in it for radioshack. They also buy a case, screen protector, car charger, fm broadcaster, etc., which are all very high profit margin items. Plus radioshack will gets a piece of the monthly billing.

November 10 2009 at 10:42 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jason

I don't understand why both Apple and AT&T wouldn't want to make the iPhone available to as many retailers as possible. The more that are sold, the more it benefits them both.

November 10 2009 at 8:18 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jimmi rehman

The shack is more like a Hardware store for electronic components... transistors and wires as to screws and bolts... at it has a few over priced cheaply made novelties by the register, but an electronics store it is not! I would never go to there to buy a camera or ipod or flash drive or phone or anything retail. HOWEVER when i modded my sons XBOX controller, Radio Shack was the only place i needed to go for the wiring, solder and button i needed.

November 10 2009 at 7:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to jimmi rehman's comment

mike

We must be talking about different RadioShacks. The one in our mall has a few resistors and switches, and the rest is useless gadgets.

November 10 2009 at 2:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

paul turner

You call Radio Shack an "electronics chain"... Who goes to Radio Shack anymore?

November 09 2009 at 11:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to paul turner's comment

Steven Mohler

I do. Sometimes you need a part quickly.

November 10 2009 at 1:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Chris

Man I bet this ticks off the AT&T Authorized retailers (non corp owned) even more. In our town there are 2 or 3 AT&T store. None can sell the iPhone. Nearest corp store is an an hour away. All of these stores have smart phone comparison sheets hating on the iPhone. Now if they were allowed to start selling the iPhone then I'm sure they would be #1 fans.

So what's the deal AT&T and Apple? You let the "world famous customer service" nerds at The Shack sell iPhones but not your own franchises?

November 09 2009 at 10:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

delphinus87

The Shack*

November 09 2009 at 9:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply