Lowe's to Deploy 42,000 iPhone 4 Devices to Stores

Amazing!

42,000 x $? = a good day's sales.

In the larger picture a drop in the bucket - but Apple keeps doing it over and over.

Pretty impressive.

Seems to me Lowe's could have saved much money by using iPod Touches and having Wifi in their stores. They might have Wifi already. Doesn't seem like they need a phone for this.

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Huge big box store. Where is the lumber manager brad? Find my manager. Bam. Gps. iPhone over iPad.

talmy said:

Seems to me Lowe's could have saved much money by using iPod Touches and having Wifi in their stores. They might have Wifi already. Doesn't seem like they need a phone for this.

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Unless Apple gave them some kind of deal to boost their iPhone 4 sales figures...not that they necessarily need a boost, but 42k orders is a nice order and gets Apple that much closer to being #1 in the Smartphone market. Apple doesn't need to be #1 in the MP3 Player market...have been for a long time.

The Touches run at about $229 and $299...iPhone 4's could have been matched in price (or come very close) to make it more attractive.

So who's the carrier? ATT?

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I am a Lowes employee. We started using the iPhones in our store (1522) last week. They are using the phones because they plan to replace our landlines with them. The store does run the phones off of wifi. If a unit is taken from the store, it fails to operate except for the gps locating services. So far they have made things much easier in the store. It doesn't carry all the operations of an LRT scangun but does seem to facilitate things by giving us the ability to scan stock and see general information.

Maybe wait a month for the iPhone 5?

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MacDuff2000 said:

Maybe wait a month for the iPhone 5?

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In a matter of speaking, yes! Even if Apple drops the price of the iPhone 4 when the next one arrives (hopefully soon!) they will undoubtedly see a drop in demand. So how do you move 40,000 units of last year's product? Sell it Lowe's of course.

Now, Apple is a master at supply/demand/etc. and this deal has probably been in the works for a while, but its still a good use of a previous generation product.

apparatchik said:

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Thank you!! I was just thinking, what a creepy-looking guy they chose for this picture. He looks so excited, doesn't he?

Update: oops looks like it's answered above.

talmy said:

Seems to me Lowe's could have saved much money by using iPod Touches and having Wifi in their stores. They might have Wifi already. Doesn't seem like they need a phone for this.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that would have saved money. Interesting that they didn't do iPod touch with the case that provides credit card etc functions.

now one of the reasons you won't get any help at lowe's they will be talking on the iphone 4 instead of helping customers.

But I don't understand how Lowe's can write custom software for it if it's not "open". How can it possibly work! I'm sure businesses will be ordering up Android phones and tablets by the tens of thousands once they catch on.

HiRez said:

But I don't understand how Lowe's can write custom software for it if it's not "open". How can it possibly work! I'm sure businesses will be ordering up Android phones and tablets by the tens of thousands once they catch on.

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Are you joking?

http://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/

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I wonder which MDM will Lowes use to manage that many phones?

Sounds good

I can see how this could be very successful. Those stores are huge, so being able to contact other employees and managers to ask questions instead of hoofing it all over the store would be helpful and should speed up shopping. Would also be nice to be able to make purchases on the spot with an associate for items like appliances, paint, locks, lumber and plants.

If you've worked in corporate, you know the cost to implement this kind of initiative in time, training and such far exceeds the actual cost of the devices. As a Lowes shareholder, I'm glad to see them pursuing this strategy.

talmy said:

Are you joking?

http://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/

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He's being sarcastic.

Cheerwino said:

I can see how this could be very successful. Those stores are huge, so being able to contact other employees and managers to ask questions instead of hoofing it all over the store would be helpful and should speed up shopping. Would also be nice to be able to make purchases on the spot with an associate for items like appliances, paint, locks, lumber and plants.

If you've worked in corporate, you know the cost to implement this kind of initiative in time, training and such far exceeds the actual cost of the devices. As a Lowes shareholder, I'm glad to see them pursuing this strategy.

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I agree. I also see where IOS5 and iMessage would be very helpful in communicating with fellow employees via free texting.

talmy said:

Seems to me Lowe's could have saved much money by using iPod Touches and having Wifi in their stores. They might have Wifi already. Doesn't seem like they need a phone for this.

Click to expand...

I best for the cost of bulk data, its cheaper to use a vpn cellular solution than equip all the stores with wifi equipment and have to maintain the setup. If I were ATT I'd put a cell tower on top of every store.

I worked for Lowes 3 years in college. Trust me, these phones wont last long (Forklift racing is a b*$ch).

SteveSparks said:

I best for the cost of bulk data, its cheaper to use a vpn cellular solution than equip all the stores with wifi equipment and have to maintain the setup. If I were ATT I'd put a cell tower on top of every store.

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All the stores already have wifi. How do you think their old scanners communicated?

talmy said:

Seems to me Lowe's could have saved much money by using iPod Touches and having Wifi in their stores. They might have Wifi already. Doesn't seem like they need a phone for this.

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If the electricity is out, then so is WiFi. Employees could still stay in touch via 3G if they have to. Plus, WiFi does have a much more limited range than 3G does.

j-traxx said:

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Huge big box store. Where is the lumber manager brad? Find my manager. Bam. Gps. iPhone over iPad.

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Are you implying that iPad doesn't have GPS? Because 3G iPads do...

Bad news for Apple

I think this cheapens the iPhone brand. I hope Apple did not give Lowe's any discount.

Think about it. If you love your iPhone and believe it is a distinguish personal device that sets you apart from those Android phones, why would you want to see a chain hardware store use it as a commodity work tool?

I for one don't think this is a good idea.

Let Samsung, Motorola etc. play the cheap plastic phone produce in masse game. If Apple play the volume game, then they are surely to loose against the Asian plastic makers. Why would you want to race to the bottom with the Asian clone makers?

Cinch said:

I think this cheapens the iPhone brand. I hope Apple did not give Lowe's any discount.

Think about it. If you love your iPhone and believe it is a distinguish personal device that sets you apart from those Android phones, why would you want to see a chain hardware store use it as a commodity work tool?

I for one don't think this is a good idea.

Let Samsung, Motorola etc. play the cheap plastic phone produce in masse game. If Apple play the volume game, then they are surely to loose against the Asian plastic makers. Why would you want to race to the bottom with the Asian clone makers?

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Where do people get this stuff? It's a freaking phone, a tool to get things done. Distinguished personal device.