DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to start selling the iPhone at Wal-Mart (WMT) stores this month, according to several reports.
The San Jose Mercury News first reported Friday that the iPhone would be in stock at San Francisco Bay-area stores by the last week of December, and possibly before Christmas, citing managers and employees at several stores.
The stores had been holding meetings with employees to tell them the details of the release, the newspaper reported.
An AT&T Inc. (T) representative told cell phone department manager Kim Nguyen at a Wal-Mart in Milpitas, Calif., that the store would get a 4GB model of the iPhone, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
A 4G model hasn't been announced by Apple, but several blogs and analysts have said that Apple might offer a discounted model of the iPhone to stay competitive with low-end devices.
Bloomberg confirmed the report Sunday, citing four unnamed employees at four different California stores.
The employees, contacted by phone, said they are being trained on how to sell the device, the news agency reported on its Web site.
However, the employees haven't been told the price of the iPhones or which versions Wal-Mart will sell, it said.