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Wal-Mart to Sell $99 4GB iPhone?

Nicolecat said:
I bet they do end up selling the iphone...but not a 4gig version...
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That is what I've been saying. I do happen to think that we are due for a 16/32gb update.

Maybe the $99 will be to clear out some 8gb?

I've asked this before and before, why do we think it's 4gb? BoyGenius? They even said their source isn't rock solid. As with any of these rumors, they have an element of truth. Would going to a 16/32gb lineup be better? Rocking out the 8gb to get it out the door and announce 16/32 @ MWSF.
 
Nicolecat said:
I bet they do end up selling the iphone...but not a 4gig version.

They'll probably carry the same one's that everyone else has.
Why would Walmart be so special as to get the opportunity to singlehandedly debut a new iphone, all on their own?

Seriously?
I think not.

However, having them as a retailer, would be in Apple's favor.
There is practically a Walmart in every small town in the US.
Apple would be increasing their sales odds by offering the iphone where there might not be an Apple store or a Best Buy.
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Walmart has gotten a lot of things done to help them exclusively, such as CD pricing and video game box sizes. If anyone is able to get Apple to do something, it would be Walmart.
 
fleshman03 said:
That is what I've been saying. I do happen to think that we are due for a 16/32gb update.

Maybe the $99 will be to clear out some 8gb?

I've asked this before and before, why do we think it's 4gb? BoyGenius? They even said their source isn't rock solid. As with any of these rumors, they have an element of truth. Would going to a 16/32gb lineup be better? Rocking out the 8gb to get it out the door and announce 16/32 @ MWSF.
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This seems more likely, and I am sorry I didn't read it earlier. I did glimpse a tech article mentioning that there are 32GB NAND chips available/being manufactured, so if there is enough of a supply for Apple we could be seeing 32GB iPhones and possible a 64GB Touch by MWSF if not later.

That would keep the 8GB at $99 if Apple wanted to clear inventory/keep it on the market for a little longer.
 
StuBeck said:
Walmart has gotten a lot of things done to help them exclusively, such as CD pricing and video game box sizes. If anyone is able to get Apple to do something, it would be Walmart.
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Okay, then. I'll give you the fact that they've done a few smaller exclusive sales in the past...but I also do know that they are very very protective of their sales before they actually happen. So, take every information your given with a grain of salt.

Nowhere on that packet did it say a 4gig iphone will be sold for $99. (at least I didn't see it.)
It just simply implies that walmart would be an iphone provider.

fleshman03 said:
As with any of these rumors, they have an element of truth.
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Agreed...the question is which element is the true portion? :D
 
contractcooker said:
No one is saying that the 4GB model wasn't a good device. It was... but times change quickly for technology and now 4GB is much smaller than it used to be.
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Well, actually it's the same size as it used to be... just smaller than the top of the line models of today --- but I know what you mean ;)

And yes, some people in this thread are saying that the 4GB is a poor device. Because it can't hold 4000 songs, movies, 100 apps, etc, etc. But they are just looking at it from their set of requirements. For most people, 4GB is about 4GB more space than their previous phone had available...
 
archurban said:
who wants 4GB iphone today? I doubt it would be iphone 2G? with 4GB, you can't do nothing with iphone. it will be really phone itself. but iphone is not. cheaper people get cheaper one. don't get me wrong. but I don't really go to walmart everytime. I don't have to. here in San Francisco, a lot of cheaper grocery store or cloth stores. I'd better go to BestBuy.
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Obviously, you're not the target for a 4GB iPhone -- it's not like the phone becomes useless with just 4GB of space. It just can't hold as much content as the other phones.

Oh, I think the thing you are looking for is called commas... they help break up sentences into smaller chunks instead of making little partial fragments like periods do. :)

Michael CM1 said:
Don't forget that Apple killed the 4GB model because it wasn't selling nearly as well as the 8GB.
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You mean it wasn't selling nearly as well when it was priced at $499 vs 8GB at $599. A $99 price point is a much different issue -- that is, of course, if this rumor is true.

Digital Skunk said:
The first smartphone to be sold for $99 was the Centro on Sprint's network, so no, Apple wouldn't have been first to do that. And the iPhone is no smartphone.
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That's flamebait pure and simple -- by pretty much anyone's standard of what makes up a smartphone, the iPhone would meet those standards. If you have your own personal standard for what a smartphone is, it doesn't apply to everyone else.
 
Nicolecat said:
Agreed...the question is which element is the true portion? :D
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That is the $99 question. Based on that picture, the only thing to be 100% sure about is that there will be an iPhone sold at WalMart. (Notice the Apple Caps style. It just seems kind of fitting now.) There's about a 95% chance of a 28th launch date. That is handwritten on the Activation Reference Guide.

I tried blowing it up in Photoshop. Maybe someone better at it can try, but I didn't see anything referencing gigs.

Based on not having proof of gig size but proof that WalMart sells the iPhone, clearing out 8gb is my conclusion. I'm more inclined to believe this because Walmart could move quantities out at a $99 price tag quickly.
 

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The "Walmart" logo on the training manual is very crappily Photoshopped. Besides, it's really Wal-Mart. Fake.
 
Digital Skunk said:
No, I didn't define what a smartphone was. The rest of the world did. People help the iPhone up to what was currently on the market, and the absence of MMS, copy/paste, MS Office document creation and editing, tethering, and others put the iPhone slightly below what a smartphone was.
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For me, the iPhone is nothing more than a phone and an iPod touch, but I can use the internet anywhere. That's really what I wanted though. And you're right...the more conventional smartphone has all the features you listed above. In exchange for the conventional "business" features, the iPhone plays games, does multimedia stuff and web browsing better (this is arguable though). A smartphone running windows mobile is really a completely different animal than iPhone in some respects.

And regarding what you said in other posts...yes I do think the iPhone is fragile. That's why I have a case for it. But other smartphones are fragile, too, and if I owned any other expensive phone (WM, BB, palm, etc), I'd take care of it too as if it were fragile. iPhone isn't like my old razr where it can be thrown around and come out alive.
 
contractcooker said:
Those figures are old... I think it's safe to assume that the manufacturing costs have decreased dramatically as production ramped up. I am certain that they would make money on a $99 iphone.
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They aren't that old. I read those numbers less than two months ago, and I'm pretty sure they haven't dropped enough in two months for them to make much, if any profit.
 
fleshman03 said:
You're serious, right? Who has only 4gb of music? I don't know many college students who fall in that range. Maybe High School students? Plenty of us shop at Walmart too. (As much as we hate it.)

Now add a movie or two and 3.5gb is nowhere near enough storage. I had a hard enough time going from a 32 gb iPod to a 16gb touch. When I bought the iPod, I didn't think I'd ever touch 15gb, let alone 32. I now have over 60 gb of movies...
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I have over 30,000 songs (entire ripped albums), and my top rated songs, 4 & 5 stars only, doesn't fill up my 8 gig iPhone. I seriously doubt that anyone buying an iPhone at walmart will have the musical collection to fill 4 gigs with **** they actually want to listen to.
 
queshy said:
For me, the iPhone is nothing more than a phone and an iPod touch, but I can use the internet anywhere. That's really what I wanted though. And you're right...the more conventional smartphone has all the features you listed above. In exchange for the conventional "business" features, the iPhone plays games, does multimedia stuff and web browsing better (this is arguable though). A smartphone running windows mobile is really a completely different animal than iPhone in some respects.

And regarding what you said in other posts...yes I do think the iPhone is fragile. That's why I have a case for it. But other smartphones are fragile, too, and if I owned any other expensive phone (WM, BB, palm, etc), I'd take care of it too as if it were fragile. iPhone isn't like my old razr where it can be thrown around and come out alive.
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Very true. I hope no one really takes offense the the iPhone not really being a smartphone. It does have the best phone OS on the market, and that's a fact. And yes, it trades those missing features for the media/gaming/music stuff that smartphones failed at for almost a decade, and still continue to fail at.

The only thing going for Windows Mobile is the user base, the apps, and Microsoft's deep pockets. Palm is all but gone save for the minor Treos and the ones running WM. The iPhone changed people's minds about how to use their phones, so no one may want to create a word document or copy/paste, but they do want to play super monkey ball and crash bandicoot.

And still right on with the fragility of the iPhone and others. Not that being able to drop your cell is ideal, but knowing that dropping it will result in terminal damage isn't a plus. I drop my Touch on occasion and as usual the battery falls out. I put it back in and restart and I am good to go. The iPhone/iPod Touch will crack the glass.

The bigger issue, is that when the phone does break, will I have to pay for a new one out right, or will the $3 a month I pay for insurance cover the replacement of an ordinarily $550 phone?
 
OK, folks...

I work at Wal-Mart in Oklahoma. The department manager of our Connection Center (cell phones) has confirmed that our store will be getting the 8GB and the 16GB iPhone, at $199 and $299 with a new 2-year contract, respectively. Nope, no cheap Wal-Mart version for me, thank God. :D :D

I want the white one. ;)
 
fleshman03 said:
I've started to trim stuff out, like Comedy CDs that I've listened to. I'm not going to carry them around anymore.

But if I'm paying $100/month for the privilege to own a device, I want to carry all the music on own on it.

What if I get in the mood to hear, "I've got friends in low places" while shopping at WallyWorld (WalMart.) Surely that would have been a trim song.
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Well luckily for you, Apple has iPhones with more storage. But that still doesn't change the fact that for many people, cheaper 4GB iPhone would be perfect. It wouldn't apparently be suitable for you, but your wants and needs do not apply to everyone.

Some people think that they need 120GB+ of space in their mediaplayer. Does that mean that EVEYONE needs that much space? Nope. I can't ft all my content to my iPod, and some people that might be very annoying. I don't find it annoying at all.
 
Wal-Mart will start selling the iPhone on the 28th of December. They went for training a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if they will have a 4 Gig version.
 
$99 4GB IPhone in January

Sehnsucht said:
I work at Wal-Mart in Oklahoma. The department manager of our Connection Center (cell phones) has confirmed that our store will be getting the 8GB and the 16GB iPhone, at $199 and $299 with a new 2-year contract, respectively. Nope, no cheap Wal-Mart version for me, thank God. :D :D

I want the white one. ;)
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I really cannot imagine Walmart telling its staff there will be a $99 IPhone until Apple has announced it; how soon do you think it would be in the press as fact if the employees had it?

As I wrote in blog post today, Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros states "we believe one of the key things Apple needs to do to drive broader iPhone adoption is to build a more complete product line like it has done with the iPod."

And: "a $99 IPhone could serve as a low end or entry phone, the 8GB as a midrange IPhone, and the 16GB IPhone could be positioned as a high end IPhone with a greater megapixel camera, flash, video and maybe even a memory boost to 32GB."

I surmised: "My $1099 bet: there will be a $99 IPhone introduced in the next month, but it will not launch at Walmart on December 28.

Walmart has positioned itself, trained its staff, and will be ready to pump out the $99 4GB IPhones the moment the iconic Steve Jobs announces it with his typical aplomb.

I could imagine Jobs on stage in his turtleneck, the screen is illuminated, the number $99 appears, and at that very moment, Walmart employees begin pushing out crates of $99 IPhones to the floor."

A Maine Armchair Philosopher
 
Analysts say Apple may offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte version through Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and sell it for $99. Apple currently sells two models at $199 and $299
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As noted, it would be a discontinued model, sell until they run out. :D
 
i will be happy to put all the nay-saying to rest for all of you...i am a wal-mart employee(i wont say where to avoid giving up my identity, but i will say i am in the NY metro area), and i can officially tell you that wal-mart WILLbe selling the apple 3g iphone with a launch date of december 28th. I just completed my training for sales and activation very recently. the only thing the company is keeping secret is what size iphone we will sell, though the main rumor around the stores is that we will re-launch the 4G. also, there is a plan in the works for a pre-paid iPhone go-phone, and its just a matter of when, not if. so for those of you that hate wal-mart, oh well, because we are getting it, and we are selling it....dirt cheap. also, measures have been taken to prevent any attempt at fraud, so i would seriously consider not to try anything "clever" as to resale with the phone you buy there....i guarentee you wont like the result.
 
pbh444 said:
I really cannot imagine Walmart telling its staff there will be a $99 IPhone until Apple has announced it; how soon do you think it would be in the press as fact if the employees had it?

As I wrote in blog post today, Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros states "we believe one of the key things Apple needs to do to drive broader iPhone adoption is to build a more complete product line like it has done with the iPod."

And: "a $99 IPhone could serve as a low end or entry phone, the 8GB as a midrange IPhone, and the 16GB IPhone could be positioned as a high end IPhone with a greater megapixel camera, flash, video and maybe even a memory boost to 32GB."

I surmised: "My $1099 bet: there will be a $99 IPhone introduced in the next month, but it will not launch at Walmart on December 28.

Walmart has positioned itself, trained its staff, and will be ready to pump out the $99 4GB IPhones the moment the iconic Steve Jobs announces it with his typical aplomb.

I could imagine Jobs on stage in his turtleneck, the screen is illuminated, the number $99 appears, and at that very moment, Walmart employees begin pushing out crates of $99 IPhones to the floor."

A Maine Armchair Philosopher
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the phone isnt in stores yet, but will start arriving soon.

and the launch date is very real....december 28
 
Tallest Skil said:
No, thank you, sir! I love my 4GB iPhone. I don't want it to stop being a collector's item because the bargain bin of retailers is too cheap to sell standard capacity iPhones!
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You already have the device. Why should your concerns about whether or not you have a "collector's item" matter one whit to anyone at WalMart or Apple?

Don't you think you're being a mite selfish and elitist?
 
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