Looks like Apple (AAPL) could be expanding its iPhone retail presence again: After adding Best Buy (BBY) in August, Apple could be offering the iPhone at Wal-Mart (WMT) stores beginning in late December. That is, if a memo obtained by mobile blog Boy Genius Report is true.
The note purports that the iPhone will go on sale at Wal-Mart and some Sam's Club stores on Dec. 28. (Bizarre date, but not a deal-breaker. See below for theory.)
The memo doesn't include a price. Presumably, Wal-Mart will want to sell it for less than its $199 retail price. It already sells Google's (GOOG) G1 smartphone -- one of Apple's biggest rivals -- for a $30 discount.
Any idea that Apple wouldn't sell the iPhone at Wal-Mart because it's not classy enough is ridiculous. Apple already sells its iPods everywhere, including Costco (COST) stores. And Wal-Mart employees should be just as capable as Apple Store employees at selling you a box with a phone inside it. (In fact, we wonder why Apple's hasn't started selling the iPhone at Radio Shack stores yet, or other non-AT&T owned AT&T outlets.)
What this does tell us: Apple is taking this mobile platform thing seriously, and is really driving for massive market share. Which is smart -- its App Store is already a huge advantage over rivals like Google and RIM (RIMM).
One theory for the strange date: If Apple keeps its pattern of ending its fiscal quarters on the last Saturday of the month, that would be Dec. 27., 2008. Which means it might be able to account for its inventory-filling shipments to Wal-Mart on Dec. 28, the first day of its March quarter. That would carry a significant number of shipments over to its March quarter -- hundreds of thousands -- during what's typically a slower period. (Again, we don't know if this is true, or if this is how Apple even accounts for its inventory-filling shipments. It's possible they have to be recorded the day they're shipped from Apple's warehouses, not the day they hit shelves. But just an idea.)
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