Following in the footsteps of the T-Mobile G1, the Apple iPhone
3G may soon make an appearance in the electronics section of the nation's largest discount retailer—Wal-Mart—for a discounted price.
While neither Wal-Mart nor Apple has officially confirmed the iPhone's Wal-Mart debut, several reports have surfaced indicating that the now-iconic touch-screen smartphone could be on Wal-Mart shelves by the end of the month, just in time for the last-minute holiday shopping rush.
According to MacRumors, new Wal-Mart training materials and advertising for the iPhone show that Wal-Mart will sell the 8-GB version of the iPhone for $197, $2 cheaper than the price tag the device carries at Apple and AT&T stores.
Wal-Mart adding the iPhone to its already impressive consumer electronics arsenal is a coup of sorts, in that it would make the discount chain only the second retailer to have rights to carry the device. In September Best Buy and Apple formed a partnership through which Best Buy would sell the iPhone in its in-store Best Buy Mobile stores, marking the first time an iPhone was legitimately available from somewhere other than Apple or an AT&T store.
Last week, rumors swirled that Wal-Mart would also soon begin selling a 4-GB version of the iPhone 3G for $99 with a two-year contract, a massive discount on the $199 8-GB version and the $299 16-GB version. Those rumors have yet to be confirmed.
Wal-Mart offering the iPhone at a discounted price follows the store's addition of the T-Mobile G1 to its shelves just weeks after the device made its public debut. Wal-Mart sells the G1 for $148.88, more than $30 cheaper than in T-Mobile stores. The G1, the first Google Android-based smartphone seen as a rival for the iPhone and other touch-screen titans, sells for $179 in T-Mobile stores.
Wal-Mart chopping the G1's price so quickly angered some early adopters of the device, sparking a debate over whether it reduced the price too soon.
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