Wal-Mart’s post-Christmas iPhone sale

The only real gripes a person can have about this, all are software related.

Hasn’t the world bitched about something that can be easily changed long enough?

Quite making the “I’m just a consumer” argument. I was too, I evolved.

5 years ago, I still ran Windows too.

Linux has been ported to the iPhone. Android and OpenMoko you blather? Where is the installed base for public development?

Yeah, shut up.

The iPhone is awesome for reasons that have noting to do with the product itself. The software is a prison, and the hardware is marginal at best. but if you’re not LAZY, it can be bent to your will.

Hey Eric,
Wake up and open your ears and eyes. Iraq has nothing to do with oil. We have not touched one drop of Iraq’s oil and if and when we do it will be paid for like any other country.If that were true would we have had $4.14 gasoline throughout the summer? Iraq was confronted to help protect and prevent radical Islam, and their supporters like Saddam, from contributing to further terrorist attacks.

funny.. sad of us to check out the phone, but not sad enough for you to read the forums about us checking out the phone? sigh.

If everyone thought like Eric from Texas people would stop buying things businesses would shut down then we would really be in trouble. So don’t knock the people that are buying things atleast there keeping things going. Grow up

I’m pretty excited about the move from Apple stores to Walmart. Smart move from Apple - Walmart stores are everywhere, vs. the few loations of the Apple stores.

How sad of all of you….The country is in recession, our kids are dying in a worthless war caused by the USA and it’s thirst for oil and all of you have nothing better to talk about, but the iphones being sold in Walmart.
By being arrogant is how we ended up in this hole…OPEN UP YOUR EYES AMERICA!!! the world does not rotate around your material possesions

I have an iPhone, so I can appreciate all of the ignoant talk by Windows users. Know that there is another inovation to be announced soon and Apple is clearing the shelves. The next generation of computer/phone will be available everywher now that Walmart is allowing Microsoft to start packing up its strangling and shortsighted hold in the computer market place.

Hahahaha did somebody actually say Apple was a high-end tech brand? It’s APPLE for goodness’ sake - the granddaddy of all cheap knock-offs! LMAO

dude……. its pretty simple really…. iphone is not selling as its production is doing….. so what those guys really thinking is saving their butts from over production and losing money from lack of sales… who on earth would want an over priced product and tie itself with att? even if they lower its price… if dont move out from being exclusive with att? the deal with walmart wont work

I am curious to see what the first bill is going to look like. It is a smart move though for Wal-Mart, considering they get everything from China for under half price.

I would just like to note to the people who are shopping at walmart for the price: Other stores PRICE MATCH. Go to Best Buy or another retailer. Seriously, they will and have price matched Wal-Mart (they do it for me all the time). I Love the value, but not the ethics.

I’m halfway amazed that informed people still shop at Wal-Mart, Do you really support shady business practices, tax payer spillovers? They offer nothing that other stores don’t, and others will match or beat their prices (not to mention retailers such as Best Buy have no Mail-In Rebates anymore!)

Stop shopping at Wal-Mart, If you want the value without the regret and a somewhat enjoyable shopping experience with people who usually ACTUALLY KNOW what they are talking about, start price matching and other retailers.

Seriously….this is not a bad idea, folks

Wal-Mart, as the article says with its market cap, etc. is ubiquitous. Although its business and ethics practices are suspect, this is a business decision, people (not just low class people shop there…that’s ignorant to the facts)

Obviously, WalMart can make a sweet deal to Apple (as they’ve already wanted to be more desirable in consumer electronics and this is numero uno in that field)…apple is making more margin/unit each million sold (new versions share similar parts), so win-win

And sell it low before X-mas….come on, think: If Tommy wants an i-phone for Christmas, do you think his Dad’s going to wait until after X-mas to buy it, especially three days after? No!!! He’ll pony up for the phone, because demand is high….afterwards (3 whole days after X-mas!), demand will be lower, but then boosted by a $100 discount

Think how well apple did with the 8%ish line discount it had with its store on Black Friday?

Brilliant

short and long apple

Apple should have put the 3G in Costco instead of wack ass walmart.

i think its a excellent move by apple, anyway i won´t buy it since i have never liked the iphone.

This is all about market share! Sell more phones - take away market share from motorolla, nokia, lg and especially the G1! Since the G1 is priced at walmart @ $149, it makes sense for apple to sell the iphone at walmart. People who get their joy in life from how much they aspend and where they shop must not have that much joy.

None of you are making the decision to sell this product at Wal-Mart. That decision is up to Apple and Wal-Mart, and they’re doing it. Because none of you are making decisions, there’s no purpose in debating the selling of iPhones at Wal-Mart. Save your breath.

Wow, this is going to be a total mess for Walmart. What happens when the first Walmart customer gets a data bill from ATT for $800!? Oh boy, I hope no one dies on this one.

Even at $99 a person who works at Wal Mart would not be able to afford one…..
Since Wal-Mart is so into paying people peanuts an buying crap from China and beating up the companies they buy from to put most of them out of business why would anyone with half a brain shop there??
Oh unless of course you enjoy all the beautiful people that shop there and the kids wearing only diapers with no shoes!
Luckily they take food stamps and the smokes are cheap!

To the folks who are afraid of ‘WalMart low-income hillbillies’ buying iPhones and cheapening the Apple brand:

Give me a break. Is the only appeal of buying Apple in your smug sense of self-serving superiority? You should back a tried and true brand because of its honest ingenuity, not because sporting a pair of white earbuds under your Gap brand hat makes you feel more valuable as a consumer than the consumer who shops at WalMart.

This is a brilliant business move. And I, personally, can’t wait until everyone can afford to enjoy a great piece of technology.

I just purchased an iPod touch at Sams Club at a little under what others are selling them for plus got a 3 year warranty for $30 which Best Buy can’t touch. Sam’s Club is a great place to shop as is Wal-Mart. The fact is that people with money shop beside people with very little money for the same reason and that is to save money. I like to think I am well off but would not stay that way if I was not a thrifty shopper.

“If we survived without cell phones in the 90’s, we know that iphone is a luxury. Selling at walmart or not, ATT should make sure iphone customers can afford to pay their rent, grocery, etc othrwise, american taxpayers will be subsidizing ATT indirectly.”

Are you kidding? What kind of logic are you using. First of all, ATT invades your space as much as necessary by performing a credit check. And if they do not do a credit check then we are “subsidizing” ATT? Its your own fault if you’re not smart enough to do a budget, not ATT’s. Sheesh.

Why is Apple having Wal-Mart sell iPhones? Because the iPhone now is a high-volume mass-manufactured product, and they need a high-volume mass distribution method. Wal-Mart is nothing more than a warehouse with nicely arranged stuff in it. The statements about Wal-Mart selling to higher-income people and families, well, where do you think they are building new buildings? In areas with new developments!

But guess what is going to happen over the next 30 years - the baby boomers are aging and as they find it more and more difficult to walk from their car in the huge parking lot to get to the building’s doors, and dodge impatient drivers. So Wal-Mart will start losing customers - the new elderly - who will prefer to buy their groceries at stores with smaller parking lots. If those stores can even exist.

Also, to the whiners who complain about Wal-Mart selling Chinese-made items - most of the components in the PC or Mac that you are using to access the Internet are made in China, this has been going on for at least 4 years now.

Oh yeah, and the AT&T logjam needs to go, or there needs to be an acceptable for-fee unlocked version so the other major carriers can get in the game.

I know dozens of people who’d buy, even at the ridiculous prices currently asked, but they either don’t want AT&T as the carrier, or they live where AT&T doesn’t care to set up shop.

Another move by Apple to (smartly) wring more money out of the tech before it becomes seriously challenged and outdated. May as well accept a slightly lower margin and establish a broader base in the process.

Now, if only they’d double or quadruple the max memory from the 32 GB max of the iTouch, we’d then have a potentially viable handheld computer platform. Even 64 GB would be a possibility, but 128 would put it on the map and the wave of people writing apps for it would be gargantuan.

BTW. People make money because they take risk and shop at places like “Walmart”. I don’t know anyone that has become successful because they bought “high-end” products with the money they were making. Everyone starts somewhere, and that is usually the bottom.

The military comment was uncalled for. This is a business. Steve Jobs isn’t looking out for the consumer. He’s looking out for Apple. This is a brilliant business move. Saying that this business opportunity is stupid because people who are “poor” will be able to purchase a phone is just ignorant. It’s business. Come on.

I don’t understand the outcry against the iphone being sold at Walmart. I make over 100K and Walmart is the store me anmd my family frequent most. That is because you get good value for your money. All these people saying apple is a high end brand most likely bought their iPods from Walmart. This is America, free country remember!!! you don’t want to buy your iPhone from lowly Walmart and want to pay, say, $50 more at the Apple Store, well, go ahead and do it. And, stop complaining. This is turning from a country of the proud and the brave to a country of whiners and compainers.

This is a great move by Apple. Why would I pay so much extra for the same exact product at Best Buy which is also a multi-billion dollar chain?

The logic that walmart can’t discount iPhones because they don’t discount iPods is flawed. iPods don’t get a service comission for each sold. phones do. If they aren’t discounted it is only because of an agreement with Apple not to do so.

If we survived without cell phones in the 90’s, we know that iphone is a luxury. Selling at walmart or not, ATT should make sure iphone customers can afford to pay their rent, grocery, etc othrwise, american taxpayers will be subsidizing ATT indirectly.

I have had three iPods, and within the last year bought a MacBook Pro and an iMac. With this decision by Apple, I have made my LAST Apple purchase!

It should be noted that Apple has been selling its entire line of iPods at Walmart for a number of years, alongside many other less popular models. They even sell the high end Touch.

It should also be noted that more and more Walmart shoppers fall into the high income category. Let’s face it…even folks of higher income enjoy a good bargain, even if the iPods and iPhones won’t be discounted.

Nielson research has done a lot of work to determine the demographics of the Walmart consumer. In fact, those households making $70,000 represent the fastest growing demographic shopping there. And, 46% of the top shoppers have annual incomes of over $50,000. To assume that Walmart only attracts low income shoppers is a complete fallacy…and my guess is that a lot of upper income shoppers prefer not to admit they do shop there.

Here’s a synopsis from The Morning News (Arkansas) of the Nielson report:

The strongest sales increase has come from high-income shoppers. Wal-Mart shoppers making more than $70,000 account for the biggest sales increase — about 12 percent higher than a year ago. Both Nielsen and Wal-Mart have said this data indicates more new and affluent shoppers are turning to Wal-Mart.

“The people who said they’d never shop at Walmart are loading up trying to save a few bucks,” Rouse said. “I don’t know if it will sustain, but if they are hoping for that and making hay with it.”

Affluent shoppers at Walmart is a bit of a departure from what is generally referred to as Wal-Mart’s core shopper — the lower-income consumer — but that segment is still strong. Twelve percent of Wal-Mart’s sales come from those earning less than $20,000 per year, 10 percent from shoppers earning $20,000 to $29,000, and an equal percent from the $30,000 to $39,000 income bracket.

The actual report from Nielson is available at this link:

http://www2.acnielsen.com/pubs/2004_q1_ci_walmart.shtml

So…does it make sense for Apple to offer their phones at Walmart? Yes…you go where the customers are, and increasingly, Apple’s customers are shopping at places like Walmart. Does it diminish the brand…only time will tell.

“Just what we need, several million people who make nore more than $40,000/year and pay no income tax a $199 phone with a 2-year contract while they complain that the government doesn’t do enough for them. At least it will go good next to their 50″ plasma and new pickup truck sitting outside their trailer.

This is a terrible idea.”

Yeah all those darn military members making under 40k. what a bunch of dead beats

I think they shouldn’t because wal-mart ios a cheap store!

This is a big big mistake. Apple is a reputable, technology brand. The iPhone is really a high end product that must be handled carefully by people who understands the product. Apple should reconsider this decision. The iPhone is made in China, but the idea and the hardware spec is very much US. This bad long-term move. They should consider Best Buy instead.

This is a mistake for Apple - WalMart is a discount store and Apple is not a discount brand. It is the wrong channel for sales. Apple is an aspirational, highly desired brand, with a high perceived value, the exact opposite of WalMart. Their are plenty of outlets for people to buy iPhones already, especially after the introduction into Best Buy - Apple has 3,200 outlets right now in the U.S. plus the Apple store which is accessible to everyone. WalMart cheapens and hurts the brand - why not open a BMW store at your local WalMart - the answer: it doesn’t fit the brand!!!!!! I’m long Apple and hate this move. Further, Apple is known for having the highest customer satisfaction ratings, and for the highest levels of customer support - something you will not get from WalMart - this move might give short term gains but in the long term is a very bad move.

DO YOU ALL KNOW THAT AS IPHONES AND ALL THE PRODUCTS FROM APPLE ARE ALSO MADE IN CHINA ?

Bob, Johns Creek, G- I ask for Apple gift cards for Christmas, Birthdays and Mother’s Day. That means I can buy the iphone and anything else that I want from the apple store. I once walked in the store and brought a IMac computer with $2000 worth of gift cards. So because I’m financially strapped I shouldn’t spend my gift cards? Should I sell them on the black market for cash. Oh, you talk about your taxes supporting people? How about our taxes being used for corporate welfare to the banks and car companies?

Hmmm…let’s see…who can afford an iPhone? Who doesn’t (today) generally frequent Wal-Mart? Oh, the same consumer you say…voila WMT has just claimed a new customer base…

Walmart has great employment opportunities for people like “dave,Rochester,ny” who managed to squeeze through the public education system without learning how to write a single sentence with proper grammer and spelling.

Where else but Walmart can 2.1 million people without a college degree get a decent, honest paying job with benefits?

Quit your Walmart bashing you ignorant fools. At least Walmart tries to give everyone the lowest price, unlike oil companies & cartels that rape the world’s citizens. Do your research you Walmart bashers and you will see that compared to Walmart’s 3% profit margin ($12 Billion in profits), 6 of the world’s largest 10 companies are oil and they took 10 times as much profit as Walmart - $120 Billion on $1.5 Trillion in sales.

Think about it for a minute…Apple is focused on making the iPhone the predominant revenue stream that the iPod once was. To do this, they will offer different models of iPhone at different price points. I bet the Walmart has been tapped to help Apple roll out a cheaper iPhone. For the rest of us.

Dave in Rochester….

Does that mean we should shop at Target or K Mart that sells the same products that come from the same different countries that also pay their employees low wages and give nothing back?

What a douche

You think Walmart has a great strategy? Buy their stock. They are publically owned, you know. It is easy to demonize a company–but nothing precludes you from getting in on the profit.

an excellent strategy for a company for a filthy company who pays there workers like crap treats them subhuman and dose not give anything back to the community. Great job guys keep shopping at walmart save money and sell out this country to china.

Why get an affordable one? I will wait for my government subsidy to buy a top-of-the-line model.

Wow!Obama said scum? Maybe Jack should get an affordable hearing aid from Wal Mart.

Just checking–Obama did say that the dirty scum making over 250K are going to buy the rest of us iphones, correct?

[sarcasm]Hey Bob in Johns Creek, I was unaware that people who make 40K/year didn’t pay income taxes? Why didn’t someone tell me this when I was in that salary band?! [/sarcasm]

Just because someone shops at Walmart doesn’t make them poor. Those of you criticizing Walmart shoppers for poor decisions should think things through a bit more. For every 6-figure earning Applephile, there’s an under-earning hipster, starving artist, or college student who blows an outsized portion of their income on Apple goods already.

Apple can’t grow and provide the astronomical stock returns everyone expects without reaching out to the masses. T-Mobile went w/ Walmart to market the G1 and gained several hundred high traffic outlets so AT&T/Apple has to do the same as they try to continue to grow sales.

The high value customers already have iPhones (and way overpaid) and they’re going to start scraping the bottom of the barrel soon enough. Just because it offends the undeserved self-worth your iPhone affords you, doesn’t mean Apple should ignore the millions who shop at Walmart for whatever reason. The iPhone portrays an artificial luxury image much like Chinese made Coach bags portray luxury to the unsophisticated yet you still find people flocking to the stores even in upper class malls.

@ Bob in Johns Creek, you associating earning 40k and living in a trailer park is simply ridiculous. The median household income in the US for a family of 4 is barely 50k and while they may not pay much in taxes if they have a mortgage, they’re hardly deadbeats. From my experience, there are plenty of people living in your neighborhood who are far higher leveraged keeping up w/ the Joneses than people on the lower end of the economic curve. If you’re willing to insult nearly half the US population as those living off the gov’t till, perhaps you deserve to have every penny you earn above the median taken from you by those evil “redistribution plans”.

One big factor in the date choice is probably that December 28 is the start of the next fiscal quarter for Apple.

To Bob in Johns Creek…..You are right on!

Can’t pay the mortgage, but sure do have an iphone don’t you!!

With the economy the way it is, a lot of people will be getting giftcards to shop the sales after Christmas. Announcing now that this is going to happen is a smart move and Walmart will sell more giftcards. Selling it at Walmart also makes it seem possible to get an iPhone by people that wouldn’t ordinarily spend the money–will make it seem more affordable.

the most likely reason for the launch date it the fact that they just completed the agreement to sale the product and cannot ramp up the required training and product registration that is required by Apple to sell their products. Even the agreement with Best Buy, a gadget seller, took awhile before the product was on the shelves. Now imagine a roll out with a larger less technical staff such as Wal-mart and it makes perfect sense.

Isn’t the reason clear?

If you want to make the gift a “surprise”, you cannot buy cell phone - it requires the receiver’s name, SSN, address etc.

Cell phones are horrible holiday gifts.

It is an excellent strategy to launch it after X-mas. Many people will be returning gifts for store credit, and if a customer wants to spend the credit on iPhone, most likely the credit is not enough, so he would put in extra money.

They probably have preexisting obligations with Best Buy to not roll out with another store until after Christmas. I love how everyone thinks he is an idiot when they do not have all the facts.

A LOT OD SHOPPERS POSTPONE THEIR PURCHASES UNTIL JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS TO GET A BARGAIN.
ALSO, MAYBE APPLE IS MOSTLY SOLD OUT OF THE IPHONE AND COULDN’T SUPPLY WALMART SUFFICIENTLY BEFORE CHRISTMAS??? THINK, THINK, THIN, INSTEAD OD DOING A NEGATIVE PIECE ON APPLE.

Boy Genius is wrong with the rollout dates.

PED,

You have an opportunity to analyze stuff! You can do this. (And you do sometimes.)

This wise and simple thought came from an earlier commenter:

“Perhaps the reason for delaying till after Christmas is that Apple may not be able to ramp up production fast enough to create the inventory needed for Wal-Mart?”

Come on PED, that was your goal to score! Don’t let your readers score on the open goals! They’re yours for the taking!

Its only significant if you can buy them without a contract and can be unlocked.

“…this is an excellent idea and will benefit the cash strapped consumer…” …UH isnt that what more or less got us INTO this mess? People should be taking their “cash strapped”-selves to a good financial planner rather than make friviolus purchases such as an iPhone. I mean if they are truely cash-strapped - some good financial advise is better than a toy. Dont ya think?

But yes this is a very poor idea and will just keep consumers with their reckless behavior.

I saw an iphone for sell at Walmart the other day.

WalMart won’t discount the iPhone. They don’t discount the iPod, why should the iPhone be any different. My suspicion is that that is Apple’s, not WalMart’s decision.

The consumer that shop at Walmart, look for cheap prices. I don’t think the average Walmart consumer can afford this product. Interesting idea though, but if there is not a price cut, I don’t see how Walmart will sell them. Looking forward to see end of first quarter 2009 reports from both Walmart and Apple if this partnership worked. Looks like another reason for teenagers to hang out at Walmart at mid-night on weekends. What’s next at Walmart..Tiffany diamonds.

They’re probably doing it AFTER Christmas to get people in to the stores to spend their gift cards. I think a retailer can’t put the INCOME of the gift card purchase on their books until the funds on the gift card are either SPENT by the consumer or RECLAIMED by the retailer (if the card expires).

“this is an excellent idea and will benefit the cash strapped consumer”

Cash strapped consumers shouldn’t be buying items like this….period. And just because WalMart is selling it doesn’t mean it is going to be discounted.

Brilliant. Marketing at some of its best.

I think that it is likely that the launch at Wal-mart would come with a potential price decrease, or new offerings (HD sizes) for the iPhone - BUT they would want to wait til after the Christmas buying season to offer the “cheaper” prices.

It’s being rolled out after Christmas so that people can return all those unwanted knickknacks they received over the holidays, and pool the funds to get the gadget they really want — an iPhone!

War Room…. Shiver me timbers!!

Just what we need, several million people who make nore more than $40,000/year and pay no income tax a $199 phone with a 2-year contract while they complain that the government doesn’t do enough for them. At least it will go good next to their 50″ plasma and new pickup truck sitting outside their trailer.

This is a terrible idea.

It’s really not rocket science as to why they are making it available after Christmas…it’s not as easy to buy someone else an iPhone before xmas. Better for the person to go themselves. And there will be many many gift cards out there that need to be used…what better to put them toward than an iPhone purchase?

Once again we see why Wal-Mart continues to outshine the competition…this is an excellent idea and will benefit the cash strapped consumer….the wait will be well worth it thus adding to the buzz about how great this phone should be!!

Perhaps the reason for delaying till after Christmas is that Apple may not be able to ramp up production fast enough to create the inventory needed for Wal-Mart?