Apple to Sell IPhones in Wal-Mart Stores This Month
A A A — Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will become the second mass-market retail chain to start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone, with two store representatives saying the world's largest retailer will carry two models of the Web-surfing handset this month.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Wal-Mart move had been signposted by an October report that iPhone 3G could reach Wal-Mart and a November report placing a rollout at select Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations. The December reporting turns that retail-channel expectation into a confirmed sale of two iPhone models.
A separate report floated a $99 4GB model, but that price-and-model claim remained unconfirmed. What is established is the addition of the largest retailer to Apple's mass-market distribution.
First-order effects
- Apple gains Wal-Mart as a retail outlet for two iPhone models, extending the handset's availability through a second mass-market chain.
- Wal-Mart adds iPhones to its store assortment, giving its shoppers another place to buy Apple's handset.
Second-order effects
- The rollout gives Apple a larger physical retail channel without relying solely on its existing mass-market partner, making shelf placement at major chains a more important part of handset distribution.
- The unconfirmed $99-model reports put attention on entry pricing, raising the stakes for how Wal-Mart positions the iPhone against other phones sold through its stores.
Third-order effects
- If major retailers become recurring iPhone outlets, smartphone distribution shifts further toward mass-market chains as well as dedicated electronics and carrier channels, increasing retailers' importance in device reach and pricing presentation.
The trend: The iPhone's Wal-Mart entry is a data point in the movement of premium smartphones into broader mass-market retail distribution.