Wal-Mart Selling iPod Minis

[MacRumors]

CNet reports that a limited number of Wal-Marts have begun selling Apple's iPod Mini music player.

Apple's iPod Shuffle has been recently rumored to also make its way into the national retailers stores. Alongside rumors of the Mac Mini in Best Buy retail locations, it appears Apple is aggressively expanding its retail presense beyond official Apple Stores -- at least for select products.

[SiliconAddict]

SEE THIS THREAD if you want to bitch about Walmart. Pretty much everything that needed to be said about them was said there.

[hob]

I don't understand what the kerfuffle is all about?

Apple sell iPods in their stores
PC World sell iPods in their stores
Comet... currys... dixons...

many many many stores in the UK do...

Hob

[Bakey]

Originally Posted by hob

I don't understand what the kerfuffle is all about?

Apple sell iPods in their stores
PC World sell iPods in their stores
Comet... currys... dixons...

many many many stores in the UK do...

Hob

The difference is young fella m'lad is that all the stores you've mentioned are predominately electronics/technology based, unlike ASDA [see no Z!!] whose bread and butter [no-pun intended ] is food stuffs, ie. the ASsociated DAiries... if I'm not mistaken.

[brap]

Originally Posted by Bakey

The difference is young fella m'lad is that all the stores you've mentioned are predominately electronics/technology based, unlike ASDA [see no Z!!] whose bread and butter [no-pun intended ] is food stuffs, ie. the ASsociated DAiries... if I'm not mistaken.

Our Asda sells PCs-in-boxes (and crappy ones at that). Wouldn't surprise me at all if they got shuffles and minis.

[billystlyes]

Next Kmart then 7-11! JK What's the big deal Target sells them and a lot of people shop at Wallyworld!

[Lacero]

Wal-Mart would do more for Apple than the other way around. Good overall business smarts for Apple. Apple long has that elitist attitude that got it nowhere fast in the PC market. Finally they got off their high horse and actually made affordable stuff for "mere mortals".

[macidiot]

Originally Posted by hob

I don't understand what the kerfuffle is all about?

Apple sell iPods in their stores
PC World sell iPods in their stores
Comet... currys... dixons...

many many many stores in the UK do...

Hob

Your joking right? Umm, Walmart is a huge retailer. They do about 280 BILLION in sales a year. A SMALL iPod order from them is about 250,000 iPods. And that would barely stock their shelves. If they move them at all, which of course they will, it will probably be more like 500k-1million units a quarter.

So, ummm, the kerfuffle is that walmart is potentially a bigger buyer than umm, Europe.

[Lacero]

There shouldn't be any kerfuffles over the iPod shuffles.
At Wal-Mart stores, if anything, should prove a bold move for Apple's continued dominance. Apple expects to move 5 million iPods this quarter, can do it without help from some big retail giants.

[macidiot]

It must have killed Walmart this past Christmas when the hottest item in the country was unavailable at walmart. I'm thinking it was an interesting senior executive meeting...

Also, this shows that the iPod is becoming, if it isn't already, a dominant mainstream item. And its a knife in wma. It must also mean Apple has some serious production capacity now, walmart doesn't like empty shelves.

[Sun Baked]

Originally Posted by macidiot

It must have killed Walmart this past Christmas when the hottest item in the country was unavailable at walmart. I'm thinking it was an interesting senior executive meeting...

Yes it must have...

Right now Apple is after market share in the flash MP3 market, many MP3 makers think the Shuffle is a dumb idea.

Teaming up with a retailer that can move a lot of cheap iPod Shuffles vs. the feature and price rich flash MP3 players costing more -- may catch them with their short down.

So in this case teaming up with WalMart is a good thing, NOW -- it's time move product, worry about the deal with the devil, LATER.

This is really apple biggest attempts to grab market share in a long time. I hope it works.

[winmacguy]

Originally Posted by macidiot

Your joking right? Umm, Walmart is a huge retailer. They do about 280 BILLION in sales a year. A SMALL iPod order from them is about 250,000 iPods. And that would barely stock their shelves. If they move them at all, which of course they will, it will probably be more like 500k-1million units a quarter.

So, ummm, the kerfuffle is that walmart is potentially a bigger buyer than umm, Europe.

Walmart IS the world's biggest retail chain.

[BenRoethig]

Originally Posted by hob

I don't understand what the kerfuffle is all about?

Apple sell iPods in their stores
PC World sell iPods in their stores
Comet... currys... dixons...

many many many stores in the UK do...

Hob

In the UK you don't have to travel several hours to get to those stores. Apple stores, Best Buys, and Targets aren't too common in the plains.

[Paul O'Keefe]

Walmart has a reputation for selling low quality products at cheap rates. Perhaps their electronics section doesn't have that image, but their furniture, appliances, clothing, office supplies, do have that image.

I understand why the iPod Shuffle would be sold at Walmart... flash players are more of a commodity product... but the iPod Mini? Would it be like an HP branded Mini? Let's hope the tarnished reputation of the store doesn't rub off on the iPod Mini.

[JGowan]

Originally Posted by Paul O'Keefe

Walmart has a reputation for selling low quality products at cheap rates ... Let's hope the tarnished reputation of the store doesn't rub off on the iPod Mini.

I dissagree. I think they have a reputation for selling stuff we need every day at the lowest price in town. You don't see any of the Movie studios pulling their DVDs & Videos because they don't want to have their movies "tarnished" by association. As someone said in an early WM thread, if you have an ipod, nobody knows (nor cares) where you got it. They just know it's cool and that you have one.

Now if Apple started selling WalMart-branded ipods, THEN I'd have a problem.

[virividox]

if tescos started selling apple products then i know its time to swtich platforms

[Yvan256]

Originally Posted by virividox

if tescos started selling apple products then i know its time to swtich platforms

I don't know who Tescos is, but you better pick up a "Linux for dummies" book, just in case.

[asif786]

Wow, according to appleinsider, ASDA (for those of you who dont know, it's the most downmarket supermarket aside from Lidl/Aldi) will be selling shuffles too.

wow, that's kind of an embarrassment (grr, sp?) to apple, isn't it?

[sushi]

Originally Posted by asif786

Wow, according to appleinsider, ASDA (for those of you who dont know, it's the most downmarket supermarket aside from Lidl/Aldi) will be selling shuffles too.

wow, that's kind of an embarrassment (grr, sp?) to apple, isn't it?

Why?!

It seems to me that the more places you can purchase quality Apple products the better.

Sushi

[RealDeal]

... according to consultant Bain & Co, those doing much business with Walmart suffer lower profits- businessweek link http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...0042_mz011.htm

Cleverly, even if for a short time, the sheer fact the Walmart will offer (add mysterious, expensive, cool adjective here) Apple, it may add to the forces to "cross the chasm" to mainstreet market success. Together with M$ much-reported significant woes (now dealing with piracy is one of their biggest growth strategies). Now i'm in 'reality distortion' land- if Apple can meet the demand, over the next few years the computing landscape could change as dramatically as when the IBM PC came along.

[asif786]

Originally Posted by sushi

Why?!

It seems to me that the more places you can purchase quality Apple products the better.

Sushi

Well, I think they shoudl at least be selling it in places such as Dixons, Staples etc where people actually go to buy these sorts of things before they try supermarkets..

[vwcruisn]

when i told my girlfriend about this (shes a mac convert thanks to me) she replied "wow, if thats true, i just lost a lot of respect for apple."

i would have to agree

[kirk26]

Originally Posted by vwcruisn

when i told my girlfriend about this (shes a mac convert thanks to me) she replied "wow, if thats true, i just lost a lot of respect for apple."

i would have to agree

...as they drive back to the trailer park.....

[Paul O'Keefe]

Originally Posted by kirk26

...as they drive back to the trailer park.....

Hey, some of us Mac users actually live in trailers.

[whatever]

Come on guys.
Neither the iPod Shuffle or the Mac Mini were designed for "us". They were designed for the true masses. The "majority" of us who post and read this forum either already own an iPod or are holding out for the Swiss Army Knife/Newton/G6 Powered version (and those people will complain when that model comes with a plastic toothpick instead of wooden one and still not buy).

And the same is true of the Mac Mini. I'm not saying that some of use will buy it (those rational people who see the Mac Mini for what it is designed to be), but most of us will not.

If Apple can truly get into Walmart with these two products all I can see is increase traffic into their own Apple Stores.

Think about it for a second. $99.00 iPod Shuffle leads the consumer to a $499.00 Mac Mini which then leads them to a $999.00 20" Cinema Display, which then two years later if everything goes as planned leads them to $1,500+ G5 Laptop or Tower.

Brilliant!