Apple's red-hot iPhone will soon be available at what might seem an unlikely place: your local Wal-Mart. And you might see it there at one of the store's legendary "Everyday low prices''— $99.
Bay Area Wal-Mart stores will have the iPhone in stock by the last week of December, and maybe before Christmas, said managers and employees at several stores.
"It's going to be very soon," said Mark Blome, store manager of the Wal-Mart on Albrae St. in Fremont. "Originally they were going to release it before Christmas, but they can't them that fast to us."
Employees at different stores said the company had been holding special meetings with workers who will be selling the iPhone to give them details on the launch.
"I'm excited," said Lina, the manager of the wireless department at the Mountain View Wal-Mart, who attended one of the meetings. She declined to give her last name.
Wal-Mart will be the fourth major retailer in the United States to carry the iconic phone. Originally, consumers could only purchase it in Apple and AT&T stores. Best Buy began selling the device in September.
The iPhone currently comes in two versions: one with 8 gigabytes of memory that sells for $199 and one with 16 gigabytes of memory that sells for $299. Both phones are only sold with a two-year service plan that costs at least $70 per month.
Some online Web sites recently reported that Apple will offer a special 4-gigabyte version for $99 through Wal-Mart. Most Wal-Mart employees contacted Friday either didn't know about such a model or said that Wal-Mart would not be carrying one.
But Kim Nguyen, who is the department manager of the cell phone department at the Milpitas Wal-Mart, said she was told by an AT&T representative that her store would be getting a 4-gigabyte model. She also said the store was supposed to get some iPhones two days before Christmas.
"They're trying to push it before Christmas because they know how people will want it for Christmas," she said.
Media representatives at Wal-Mart's corporate office in Bentonville, Ark., declined to confirm the impending rollout of the iPhone in company stores.
"We have not made any official announcement," said Ashley Hardie, a company spokeswoman.
Representatives for Apple and AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive U.S. service provider, also declined to confirm the rollout.
The move would place one of the hottest tech devices on the shelves of the nation's largest retailer. Wal-Mart has some 4,000 discount, supercenter and Sam's Club stores in the United States, nearly all of which have a wireless sales department, said company spokesman Dan Fogleman.
It's unclear whether stores nationwide will be selling the iPhone. But at least two stores in upstate New York expect to have the device at about the same time as local stores, employees of those locations said.
Getting the iPhone into Wal-Mart should be a boon to Apple, industry and financial analysts said. By offering the gadget through the giant discount retailer, it will reach an audience that may not frequent the stores where the device is currently sold, they said.
"The upscale market has already been addressed," said Shiv Bakhshi, who covers the wireless industry for research firm IDC.
And the deal makes sense in the current economic environment, he said. Wal-Mart was one of the few retailers whose sales increased last month, a dismal one for retail business as a whole.
"Especially in a market that's headed for a recession, you want to go to the places where people are still shopping, where they're looking for deals," Bakhshi said.
But even if Wal-Mart does sell a $99 iPhone, the high service charges may cause shoppers to balk, said Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney.
"Unless they've done something with AT&T to get the monthly rate down, that's going be a real tough sell for lot those (Wal-Mart) shoppers," Dulaney said.
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