Walmart officially confirmed rumors on Friday that iPhone 3G will be available for sale at nearly 2,500 store locations beginning Sunday, December 28, 2008. Most true Apple rumor mongers bought into the Walmart iPhone news weeks earlier with plans to be the first in line when iPhone 3G goes on sale.
Walmart will blast out the black 8 GB iPhone 3G model for $197 and the 16 GB black or white model for $297 with a new two-year AT&T service agreement qualified upgrade required. But wait there's more!
What rumors did not predict was Walmart's price matching policy being in effect according to their official press release. Walmart's price match policy allows stores to match the price of any local competitor's advertised store price on the same item within the same promotional period. Best Buy is currently offering iPhone 3G for $189.99 for the 8GB model and $289.99 for the 16GB models which amounts to a $10 savings off of Apple store pricing.
"I'm a single mother of three battling every month to make ends meet," said Vernita Hagstrom, "Knowing I can walk into Walmart on a Sunday night and impulse buy a 3G iPhone gives me real hope. It's better than Zoloft for my depression, because it will make me feel like I'm better than all those other broke-ass gypsies in my apartment complex using pay-as-you-go phones."
America's price leader is estimated to sell 4.5 million iPhone units in 2009 according to Piper Jaffray’s analyst Gene Munster. A number that could easily surpass sales of iPhone 3G at Apple's own 200-plus retail stores. The iPhone 3G invasion into Walmart stores represents the greatest thing that's happened to iPhone since Apple approved "Pull My Finger", the $.99 fart-on-command app. It can only get better from here.
[Apple 2.0]
I'd pay the extra $7 not to have to go into Walmart!!
Posted by: JB | June 24, 2009 at 07:19 AM