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Walmart Offering iPhone 5 for $127, Third-Generation iPad for $399

Eidorian said:
I wonder what vehicle they are driving if it is going to be $90 in gas...
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Assuming 60mph for two hours then it's 120 miles. The current mileage rate is 55.5¢ (this includes gas and wear-n-tear) so the real price of driving is 120*.555 =$66.60. Real savings is 90-66.60=$23.40 or $11.70 per hour. Considering time and hassle, I would skip the two hour drive. :)
 
The price difference is irrelevant. Wall-Mart most likely will have a limited quantity in stock and the entire programme is to lure gadget crazed poor people to buy other crap within the store. In reality it is all about how much you pay monthly for the service. Well, today (in US) you pay about 2x-5x more than in EU for a similar pack of free minutes, data, etc. Now, add to the "saving" experience with the already imbecile like people at the AT&T store when now you are at Wall-Mart, which is AT&T dependent! Good luck with it.

In summary, rather than blabbering to no end about how much someone charges for an iPhone, question the monthly service fees and demand lower rates!
 
They can afford to do this when they have employees on food stamps. Haven't been in a Walmart in years, and never will step in that ****-hole again.
 
PRSTIMAHHHINC said:
I saved way more at Bestbuy. Although the wait was terrible. It's $50 on all iPhone5 models and I got an additional $50 off an opened box 64gb slate that was virtually brand new. The white version was all beat up to hell. =P. All in all, I paid $388 so I paid basically for a 64gb at a 32gb price.
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I don't follow. :confused:

32GB is $299 with contract discount. You're saying you paid almost $400 for a 64GB model that would've started at $399 - $50 sale - $50 open box discount should equal $299. SO you're saying you paid $88 in taxes???:confused:
 
Elijen said:
With 2 year contract

So how much will you pay for the iPhone in total? I don't know, but it's WAY MORE than $127 ...
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What's your point?

1) I am happy with my AT&T service and don't have any other provider options which would give me the same level of service & reliability that I currently have.

2) I typically upgrade every two years and sell my outgoing device. Once you've fulfilled your contract with AT&T they will unlock your iPhone, so any resale advantage the unlocked, full price phones have is moot at that point.

3) Why pay $600-800 for a phone when I can simply pay less than half of that AND have the opportunity to recoup most of that when I sell the device in a couple years?

Until there is a competitive carrier option for me (and a lot of other people who share my situation) there is no advantage to paying full price for a phone.
 
iforbes said:
Assuming 60mph for two hours then it's 120 miles. The current mileage rate is 55.5¢ (this includes gas and wear-n-tear) so the real price of driving is 120*.555 =$66.60. Real savings is 90-66.60=$23.40 or $11.70 per hour. Considering time and hassle, I would skip the two hour drive. :)
Click to expand...
Someone knows about mileage reimbursement. ;)
 
AppleScruff1 said:
You pay $127 more for an iPhone than you do for a free smartphone over the course of two years.
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mushroomtip said:
well i will be paying a monthly service regardless of which phone i purchase .my question to you is ,who buys a cell phone without a service plan ? the iP5 is a beautiful piece of equipment but it would look awkward if I displayed it on my wall and Im into pop culture toys.
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So, are you telling me, that you can choose any plan you want? I doubt they will still give you iPhone for $127 if you choose a $20 plan. They are not stupid.
 
I can throw a rock & hit a Walmart it's so close. I just have no interest in either one. I hope the next iterations will be on sale around the holidays tho....
 
Collapsing margins

This mega-sale means one thing and one thing only to me: collapsing margins for Apple. This is the first time (probably in history!) that Apple products have gone on firesale like this, and I for one don't believe it is happening because Apple or Wal-mart are acting like a benevolent Santa Clause. It's happening because (drum roll....) ...Apple product sales are slowing, and they need to goose sales during the hottest time of the year in order to have a good quarter. Think about it. If Apple products were selling so well, and they were "unable to keep up with demand", would they feel the need to do this? I think not. And who is going to eat those margin reductions? Does anybody here really think Wal-mart is about to sell items at a loss? I think not. Apple is taking the hit, which means they came up with the initiative in the first place WHICH MEANS... (another drum roll...) ...sales have not been what they were expected to be.

Heck I love Apple products and I hope they continue to create stuff that blows people away (myself included), but here are the facts as I see them:

1) Their products are stagnating -> products are being fine-tuned rather than evolving
2) Their visionary leader is gone. Steve Jobs would NEVER have allowed this fire-sale to occur. Firesales encourage people to hold off buying things in order to wait for the next big firesale - Jobs knew this, which is why Apple products always commanded a premium. Period.
3) (Related to #2) Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs, and never will be. I'm sure he is an incredibly intelligent and competent guy, but he clearly isn't the visionary Steve Jobs was, nor does he have the same cohones. Apologizing for Apple maps and encouraging people to use other alternatives while they sort out their problems?!? No WAY would Jobs have ever said that!
4) Their competition is catching up and, in some cases, surpassing them
5) The patent wars are beginning to tilt out of their favor

My predictions, for what they're worth:
1) Apple will have a blow-out quarter, release good financial results; stock goes back up to low $600's
2) Apple stagnates thereafter in a slow drift downward.
 
Konrad said:
The price difference is irrelevant. Wall-Mart most likely will have a limited quantity in stock and the entire programme is to lure gadget crazed poor people to buy other crap within the store. In reality it is all about how much you pay monthly for the service. Well, today (in US) you pay about 2x-5x more than in EU for a similar pack of free minutes, data, etc. Now, add to the "saving" experience with the already imbecile like people at the AT&T store when now you are at Wall-Mart, which is AT&T dependent! Good luck with it.

In summary, rather than blabbering to no end about how much someone charges for an iPhone, question the monthly service fees and demand lower rates!
Click to expand...

Moot. I already pay the monthly fee. I want a new iPhone. I have the 4. So... I can go to Walmart and pay $129 or I can go to Apple Store (farther) and pay $199. Or I can order online and save $4 in gas.

They give me no discount for not being under contract. The best way to get the most for your money is to update as soon as allowed. Typically 18-20mo. The instant you do that, AT&T are in the hole to Apple ~$400 for their subsidized portion. The rates are the same regardless.
 
Elijen said:
So, are you telling me, that you can choose any plan you want? I doubt they will still give you iPhone for $127 if you choose a $20 plan. They are not stupid.
Click to expand...

Obviously you can't choose a $20 plan for any subsidized smartphone here in the US. You will probably have a data plan of $30 per month plus the regular phone plan. My point was, no matter which smarphone you buy subsidized,you will have these "fixed costs". In many cases, the iPhone at $127 is cheaper than other high end smartphones.
 
pommephone said:
Last night I experienced the worst retail store experience of my life at Cary NC store #2247. Having heard of this promotion we went straight to the store's mobile department. The sales rep (Linda) just shrugged her shoulders and said she knew nothing about it. We showed her the WalMart Facebook thread and she said "We don't match online prices." We explained that this is an in store only promotion and she suggested we talk with a manager. We proceeded to the store's CS center where Heather rolled her eyes and said she knew nothing about it. She paged the 2 store managers and after we called WalMart corporate, who had to call the store, it was over an hour before a manager (Philip) showed up. He said that they missed the email about the promotion, but all was well and that we should go back to the mobile dept and all would be well. Accompanied by manager Philip, we proceeded back to Linda in Mobile dept, who would not follow Philip's instruction to honor the promotion. Linda refused because she had previously been told not to by the store manager, who was not there and who had not seen the email about this promo. 2 hours later, after being treated poorly by all 3 store reps, we left the store with no iPhone. Absolutely pitiful. Will try again this morning, but may go to a different store- we have lots of WalMarts around here.
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UPDATE:

The Walmart Manager has left several voice messages today saying "Come get your new iPhone!" but I decided I didn't want to do business with them after last night's experience (above) so I went to BestBuy Mobile at Cary Towne Center and they price matched the $127, but that Cary Walmart made it difficult even to price match. When the BBM rep called the Cary Walmart they quoted $129.99 as their price for the iPhone 5 - 16GB. We had to cal back again to confirm $127.

The Guys at BestBuy Mobile at Cary Towne Center are great! Friendly, smart, and really know what they're doing!
 
w00dmann said:
...Apple product sales are slowing, and they need to goose sales during the hottest time of the year in order to have a good quarter.
Click to expand...

Several things are up (or more accurately down)...

Apple stock continues drastic slide as iPhone 5 debuts in China
By Melanie Lee


SHANGHAI -- The highly anticipated release of the iPhone 5 in China, Apple's (AAPL) second-biggest market, failed to stop the recent share slide of the world's most valuable technology company on Friday, and analysts said Apple's longer-term China hopes may hinge on a partnership with the country's top telecoms carrier.

...

Unlike the crowds that the iPhone 5 debut drew in many cities around the world since September, just one person was waiting at the Apple store in Shanghai's financial district when its doors opened at 9 a.m. on Friday.

...

In addition, analysts cut their forecasts for shipments of the iPhone.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek trimmed his iPhone shipment estimates for the January-March quarter, saying that the technology company had started cutting orders to suppliers to balance excess inventory.

...

The brokerage said it was modeling more conservative growth for Apple after making supply chain checks that revealed that fewer iPhones were being built.

...

Full story: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22192402/apple-shares-open-down-3-9-percent-after
Click to expand...
 
w00dmann said:
This mega-sale means one thing and one thing only to me: collapsing margins for Apple. This is the first time (probably in history!) that Apple products have gone on firesale like this, and I for one don't believe it is happening because Apple or Wal-mart are acting like a benevolent Santa Clause. It's happening because (drum roll....) ...Apple product sales are slowing, and they need to goose sales during the hottest time of the year in order to have a good quarter. Think about it. If Apple products were selling so well, and they were "unable to keep up with demand", would they feel the need to do this? I think not. And who is going to eat those margin reductions? Does anybody here really think Wal-mart is about to sell items at a loss? I think not. Apple is taking the hit, which means they came up with the initiative in the first place WHICH MEANS... (another drum roll...) ...sales have not been what they were expected to be.

Heck I love Apple products and I hope they continue to create stuff that blows people away (myself included), but here are the facts as I see them:

1) Their products are stagnating -> products are being fine-tuned rather than evolving
2) Their visionary leader is gone. Steve Jobs would NEVER have allowed this fire-sale to occur. Firesales encourage people to hold off buying things in order to wait for the next big firesale - Jobs knew this, which is why Apple products always commanded a premium. Period.
3) (Related to #2) Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs, and never will be. I'm sure he is an incredibly intelligent and competent guy, but he clearly isn't the visionary Steve Jobs was, nor does he have the same cohones. Apologizing for Apple maps and encouraging people to use other alternatives while they sort out their problems?!? No WAY would Jobs have ever said that!
4) Their competition is catching up and, in some cases, surpassing them
5) The patent wars are beginning to tilt out of their favor

My predictions, for what they're worth:
1) Apple will have a blow-out quarter, release good financial results; stock goes back up to low $600's
2) Apple stagnates thereafter in a slow drift downward.
Click to expand...

no blowout quarter
the people with no smartphone in general see no need for one or don't want to pay the extra price of the data plan.

software is commoditizing the hardware. most software people use is on both platforms. only reason to get an iphone is the games and the better exchange email client. but with microsoft being slighted, they may just screw with active sync to piss apple off
 
So I'm wondering where all of these slow selling or low demand for iPhones is? I still can't seem to find any of them in stock at any stores except the pathetic Sprint model that no one wants. Tried to get one for $127 from this Walmart deal but they are all sold out. Tried best buy and they are too except for the 64gb and the Sprint models.
 
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