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Wal-Mart Planning to Carry iPad 'Later This Year'

millertime021 said:
Wait, isn't the iPhone at WM only like $4 cheaper? ($195 vs $199) so wouldn't the iPad only be a few dollars cheaper then???

Would there really be a point to go buy one at Walmart vs an Apple Store or BestBuy?
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Let's face it, quite a few people like shopping at Walmart because they carry everything: no reason to visit five stores, just one.

The savings add up. If you buy twenty items at Walmart with an average discount of $3, you've saved $60. I personally do not shop at Walmart, but this is capitalism. Joe Consumer shops where he wants to, and for many, that place is Walmart.

Remember that Levi Strauss almost went bankrupt because they refused to sell their clothes at Walmart (it's now a classic B-school case study). You go where your customers are.

Apple already has tons of customers shopping at Walmart (they sell iPhones, iPods, etc.). Selling the iPad there makes complete sense.
 
Nem Wan said:
This will NOT happen. iPad was deliberately launched only in stores where customers can get a great introduction to iPad from trained staff who can explain what it can do. Best Buy has an Apple employee in the booth. Wal-Mart is the farthest thing from that. Wal-Mart is not competent to sell any Apple products besides iPod.
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Maybe in your area. I went to the local Best Buy looking for an Airport Express. None of the multiple sales associates knew what the device was, or had heard of it. But they did try to sell me an iPod. After deciding I could wait for delivery I ordered it from the Apple refurb store online.
 
sishaw said:
What difference does it make? It's the same iPad.
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With Walmart, you can't always say that. Now with Apple I'll say it probably is the same iPad cause I doubt Apple will let Walmart play the same tricks.

But Walmart has been known to use its buying power to get a manufacturer to make a cheaper and less quality version for them (with the same "specs" but with a slightly different model number so other companies can't price match cause it won't have the same model number). One of the ways they compete and yeah, you could be getting an inferior product by buying at Walmart.

I object to the fact that Walmart pretty much does stuff like undercut the competition until they are gone (cause they have the money to take the loss for a bit) and then when no more competition, no reason to be that cheap. Walmart has been too succesful in a way and gotten themselves in a position they can do stuff that loses them money in the short run to rid themselves of competition. They're one example I use of why *pure* capitalism doesn't work as companies can get succesful enough to get around capitalism's checks and balances (competition) and it needs checks and balances outside of hte system itself.
 
cvaldes said:
Remember that Levi Strauss almost went bankrupt because they refused to sell their clothes at Walmart (it's now a classic B-school case study). You go where your customers are.
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You think it's a good thing one retailer has that kind of power over manufacturers? So when that retailer gets unreasonable a company has no other place to go? So retailer can demand whatever the hell they want out of manufacturer? You do realize the retailer is a business too and just as much looking out for retailer's own interest (and not yours) as business. Walmart is not your friend. They are not looking out for your interest. And those demands they give manufacturer aren't going to be for your best interest.

You really htink that's a *GOOD* thing?!
 
Good news for Apple. Good news for Walmart. Good news for consumers.

Bad news for snobtards who are "too cool" to shop at Walmart. Win, win, win, win.

I'm not a redneck, I'm not poor, I'm educated, I shop at Walmart when it's convenient. To me it's absolutely no different than Target, Best Buy, Nordstrom's, Publix, or the Apple Store. It's retail. Big deal.

tigress666 said:
You think it's a good thing one retailer has that kind of power over manufacturers? So when that retailer gets unreasonable a company has no other place to go?
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This complaint is often made against Apple and the iTunes Store. In order to be consistent, please next write about your problems with the iTunes Store and its sway over the music industry.
 
rwilliams said:
My only beef with Walmart is that whenever they arrive in a town, the smaller Mom & Pop establishments die off quickly. But that's business.
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It's 'just business' to the point where you start to erode the middle class. Wal Mart replaces Mom and Pop shops en masse and replaces them with huge stores that hire people for as little as possible.

When the Mom and Pop were running the store, the money earned stayed in the local economy, helping the local economy.

When Wal Mart moves in, all the money collected from the local economy goes to where ever Wal Mart HQ is, minus the paltry salaries that they pay.

Wal Mart is replacing decent jobs with really crappy ones. Wal Mart pays it's employees so poorly that it actually educates its own employees on how to apply for government benefits that they are eligible for because of Wal Mart's crappy pay.

I'm a little disappointed that Apple is venturing into business with a company that is eroding jobs that pay enough to provide the extra income to purchase Apple products.
 
simon-says said:
Maybe in your area. I went to the local Best Buy looking for an Airport Express. None of the multiple sales associates knew what the device was, or had heard of it. But they did try to sell me an iPod. After deciding I could wait for delivery I ordered it from the Apple refurb store online.
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I've purchased 6 Macs over the last three years. All but two of them were bought at BestBuy.

Only one of those purchases was memorable because there was an actual Apple rep there at the time. The other three times, I was helped by someone who really had no knowledge of Macs. It doesn't bother me, I love that BestBuy is close and I can order online and pick it up in store. I can also be out of there on five minutes.

I once waited an hour at an Apple store to buy a Mac Pro. I gave up and went to a different Apple store and bought the Mac Pro. I was in and out of that store in ten minutes. You don't always get the best help in an Apple store either.
 
tigress666 said:
You think it's a good thing one retailer has that kind of power over manufacturers? So when that retailer gets unreasonable a company has no other place to go? So retailer can demand whatever the hell they want out of manufacturer? You do realize the retailer is a business too and just as much looking out for retailer's own interest (and not yours) as business. Walmart is not your friend. They are not looking out for your interest. And those demands they give manufacturer aren't going to be for your best interest.

You really htink that's a *GOOD* thing?!
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+1 Yes this is one of the finer points that they often do not cover in Bschool. This is definitely material that would be covered in say Political Science, upper division Economics, Law and a plethora of other fields of Social Sciences and Humanities. Not too bash Bschool though, but often the finer points of business can be missed and people can be lulled into a false consciousness.
 
cvaldes said:
Let's face it, quite a few people like shopping at Walmart because they carry everything: no reason to visit five stores, just one.

The savings add up. If you buy twenty items at Walmart with an average discount of $3, you've saved $60. I personally do not shop at Walmart, but this is capitalism. Joe Consumer shops where he wants to, and for many, that place is Walmart.

Remember that Levi Strauss almost went bankrupt because they refused to sell their clothes at Walmart (it's now a classic B-school case study). You go where your customers are.

Apple already has tons of customers shopping at Walmart (they sell iPhones, iPods, etc.). Selling the iPad there makes complete sense.
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Don't get me wrong, savings are always good, but when it's a product that is multiple hundreds of dollars, a few bucks seems negligible. Now if it's a $20 product, $4 becomes more relevant.

But also, if you really take a look at their prices they aren't much cheaper than other places. They lure you in with the "lowest" prices on the lowest end items. But most people don't want the lowest end item on the market, so they buy the next one up which usually has a similar price to say Target or some other store.


I just don't see the iPad flying off shelves at walmart just due to the price. $5 savings isn't going to justify buying a $500+ "toy" (I understand some people use it for work, but a lot of consumers use the iPad as an accessory or toy) especially the people who usually shop at Walmart.

Just my thoughts.
 
JediZenMaster said:
How am i trival? Why would i shop somewhere that hates me because of who i choose to love?
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"domestic partner benefits" It couldn't be that, as a business, they didn't want to pay benefits to a bunch more people, people with no more need of benefits than my roommate? I live with a guy. Just because I don't have sex with him means I can't get free benefits for him?

I hardly equate the decision Walmart makes on that issue with "hate". So go ahead, you're free to buy some cheap pillows and lawn furniture like the rest of us.
 
rwilliams said:
LOL. Reminds me of "my favorite band sold out and is actually making enough money to feed their families now, so I can't be a fan anymore!!!!!" people I used to go to school with.
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So true! Only problem is working for Walmart doesn't pay enough to feed a family, well it does if you count the food stamps, and other forms of public assistance the company helps you apply for. Why where I live they help their folks sign up for state subsidized health care.....darn socialists......
 
smarch said:
"domestic partner benefits" It couldn't be that, as a business, they didn't want to pay benefits to a bunch more people, people with no more need of benefits than my roommate? I live with a guy. Just because I don't have sex with him means I can't get free benefits for him?

I hardly equate the decision Walmart makes on that issue with "hate". So go ahead, you're free to buy some cheap pillows and lawn furniture like the rest of us.
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walmart has discriminated against it's gay employees. So i'm not going to give money to a company that has. But hey you feel free to
 
This emphasizes just how much the iPad is an appliance and a commodity. Sadly I think this is a glimpse of the future from Apple.
 
smarch said:
"domestic partner benefits" It couldn't be that, as a business, they didn't want to pay benefits to a bunch more people, people with no more need of benefits than my roommate? I live with a guy. Just because I don't have sex with him means I can't get free benefits for him?

I hardly equate the decision Walmart makes on that issue with "hate". So go ahead, you're free to buy some cheap pillows and lawn furniture like the rest of us.
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Um, that arguement is BS.

I live with a male roommate. I'm female. We are just roommates. By your arguement they shouldn't offer benefits for anyone's significant other cause it could be just roommates taking advantage.

And if you say that well me and him could marry and prove that we're partners, the only reason gays can't is cause of small mindedness from people who keep claiming that it some how threatens the "institution of marriage". I'm sure they would happily marry if they could and that would solve this problem of worrying about if it really is a domestic partnership or just roommates taking advantage.
 
GeekLawyer said:
Apple products have been sold at Walmart for years and years. It's not a new development. Certainly not a new "venture."
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iPods and accessories as far as I know, you can split hairs indefinitely but I'm personally against Apple expanding what it offers there.

The long term economic effects of the Wal Mart business model are undeniable. Some people are more removed from the immediate effect than others are, but when good paying jobs are replaced with poor paying jobs, everyone feels it eventually, it works its way up the food chain.
 
Xtremehkr said:
It's 'just business' to the point where you start to erode the middle class. Wal Mart replaces Mom and Pop shops en masse and replaces them with huge stores that hire people for as little as possible.

When the Mom and Pop were running the store, the money earned stayed in the local economy, helping the local economy.

When Wal Mart moves in, all the money collected from the local economy goes to where ever Wal Mart HQ is, minus the paltry salaries that they pay.

Wal Mart is replacing decent jobs with really crappy ones. Wal Mart pays it's employees so poorly that it actually educates its own employees on how to apply for government benefits that they are eligible for because of Wal Mart's crappy pay.

I'm a little disappointed that Apple is venturing into business with a company that is eroding jobs that pay enough to provide the extra income to purchase Apple products.
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It's a global economy dude. A town doesn't have to rely on Mom and Pop spending the money they earned from the town. You think that WalMart profits are hoarded in 1 town. Profits from everywhere in the country fuel development and accomplishment everywhere in the country (e.g. more Walmarts). If there's one thing we can be sure of, it's that PROFITS ARE GOOD.

Maybe society can benefit from skilled people fulfilling needs that aren't already accomplished better by Walmart. Walmart has got retail covered. We don't need thousands of mom and pop stores with highly paid cashiers supplying us the same goods less efficiently. Maybe if you don't make a lot of money in retail, there is another need of society you can fill. In a free market, profit is ONLY an indication of a need fulfilled. So if you can't profit anymore mom and pop, you're not fulfilling a need.
 
tigress666 said:
You think it's a good thing one retailer has that kind of power over manufacturers? So when that retailer gets unreasonable a company has no other place to go? So retailer can demand whatever the hell they want out of manufacturer? You do realize the retailer is a business too and just as much looking out for retailer's own interest (and not yours) as business. Walmart is not your friend. They are not looking out for your interest. And those demands they give manufacturer aren't going to be for your best interest.

You really htink that's a *GOOD* thing?!
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I neither applauded nor admonished either party for this episode. I was merely recounting history.

The fact of the matter is that we (well, at least the American forum participants) live in a free market economy. People are free to do what they want with their dollars.

As I stated before, I do not personally shop at Walmart. Others will do as they wish. That's basically why many mom-and-pop shops shutter their doors after a Walmart moves in nearby. That's the way the world is headed.

Feel free to express your own judgment, but DO NOT put words in my mouth that I did not utter.

Thank you very much.
 
Xtremehkr said:
iPods and accessories as far as I know, you can split hairs indefinitely but I'm personally against Apple expanding what it offers there.
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iPhones, too. That's not splitting hairs.

I have no opinion about the economic impact of Walmart on local economies or the global economy. I just think folks should chill out and stop looking down on people who are trying to get the best value for their dollar. It's a free market, more or less. Consumers vote with their wallet.
 
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