[Macworld]

Post your comments for Reports: Wal-Mart to sell iPhone with $2 price drop here

[fribhey]

anyone with a brain would have known that apple was not going to start selling a discontinued 4gb iphone for $99, especially a week before the mac expo. the next logical step would be to release a higher capacity iphone at 32gb and lower the prices of existing iphone models. if they announced a 4gb at $99 then the 32gb would have to be $399 since the 8gb is $199 and the 16gb is $299. apple wants to dominate the phone market like they did with the ipod and the only way to do that is to lower the prices not increase them.
the only logical thing i can see happening would be:
8gb at $99
16gb at $199
32gb at $299
the only thing that doesn't make sense is why would walmart start selling these days before the mac expo? either apple isn't going to announce a larger capacity iphone at the expo (which many people have been waiting for) or people are going to be paying $197 at walmart for one week before the price drops.

[scotty321]

Horrible Wal-Mart is an absolutely evil company and all Americans should STEER CLEAR from supporting this horrible monster. Everyone should watch the documentary "Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost". More details at http://www.walmartmovie.com

[frgough]

Yes, we all know that unions and their shills hate wal-mart, so spare us the rant.

[Moof_in_Charge]

@ scotty321
Wallmart sucks for other reasons, not because they are evil.
Walmart is in business to make money. I know it might be considered a revolutionary idea for American businesses but they are here to make money.. call them crazy for pinching every penny out of the system.
For what its worth, many small businesses that deal in cash in this country find a way to stiff Uncle Sam for far worse than Walmart.
This is not an endorsement of Walmart, far from it .. but that documentary (Available on Netflix's "watch Instantly") is sensationalist in many regards in order to sway your opinion unfairly.

[scotty321]

Unions and their shills? Nice try. I'm a self-employed independent Mac consultant working for myself.

[Jeffco8]

Wal-Mart is not evil, they have allowed access to a broad range of products at low prices. This allows people to save money for other items, and improves their standard of living.
I don't like shopping at Wal-Mart and prefer Target or even Kmart for low cost everyday item, calling them evil is the worst kind of tripe and propaganda.
I hope Apple does put iPhones in Wal-Mart, Target and anywhere else that wants to sell them. This is a fantastic platform and one of the best products I have ever owned.

[pcharles]

Rubbish!

Walmart cannot be blamed for any of the percieved problems because it is nothing more than the product of American Greed. While Americans continue to want to pay less, and get more, companies will need to find ways of fulfilling that demand. Walmart found a number of ways to cut costs and sell products at a lower price, and American's flocked to the shop. As walmart grew its shareholders (mostly Americans) demanded continued profits, so it found ways to pressure companies to provide product at lower cost, and more Americans flocked to the shop. When margins are small, something has to give, and so the anti-Walmart crowd developed.

If you do not like what Walmart stand for, buy only products that are made in America and sold in corner stores. In case you have any doubt about the pressure to supply goods at lower prices, take a look at where Apple's products come from these days. Does that make Apple evil?

Many people argue that Walmart kills local shops, but one could argue that Internet shops are also killing those bricks and mortar, so does that make Internet sales evil?

What I would really like is an iPhone that I can use with Tracfone. I simply do not use a cellphone enough to justify a normal plan. My wife and I combined only manage to get through about 400-600 Tracfone minutes per year because we have phones at home and at work and would rather not be on the phone while out skiing or cycling.

[RhymingDesigner]

When I lived in California, I did all my discount shopping at Target and Costco. Wal-Mart was just too icky.

Now I live on Maui, where there is a long history of non competition. For at least 30 years (when I first visited here), the merchants, including the "Mom and Pops" held the public hostage on everything from aspirin to washing machines.

Today I thank God we have a Wal-Mart and Costco. They proved that goods can be sold at a fair price, even in such a remote location. Yes, you can still pay $6.75 for a jar of mustard, but not at Wal-Mart.

Please don't insult capitalism and the free market by bashing Wal-Mart. If anybody's evil, it's those who overcharge because they can.

[lelandjwarren]

What do you expect with "mom and pop" shop items costing more. It is a volume game. The more of "x" a company can buy translates to cheaper prices for the company which means they can pass the savings to their consumers. Walmart can buy in bulk and spread the savings to their customers. Capitalism is what is driving small mom and pop stores out of business. As families start tightening spending on every day items they start shopping around for cheaper prices. They frequent the mom and pop stores less and start shopping at Walmart more to get the savings. No one wants to pay more if they don't have to, and besides I have to use those savings from walmart to buy me that brand new Macbook pro that is going to cost me an arm and a leg!

[jedi228]

RhymingDesigner said:

When I lived in California, I did all my discount shopping at Target and Costco. Wal-Mart was just too icky.

Now I live on Maui, where there is a long history of non competition. For at least 30 years (when I first visited here), the merchants, including the "Mom and Pops" held the public hostage on everything from aspirin to washing machines.

Today I thank God we have a Wal-Mart and Costco. They proved that goods can be sold at a fair price, even in such a remote location. Yes, you can still pay $6.75 for a jar of mustard, but not at Wal-Mart.

Please don't insult capitalism and the free market by bashing Wal-Mart. If anybody's evil, it's those who overcharge because they can.

Walmart is not fair. They use their size to bully and intimidate suppliers into accepting bare-bones pricing. The manufacturers of products are forced to scrape by or be left out. Walmart underpays suppliers and while they are at it Walmart underpays its own workers as well because they can.

Charging more for a product is not automatically evil nor are lower prices automatically good. Although you, as a Walmart consumer, may benefit in the short run from Walmart's hardball tactics, this comes at a great cost to a lot of people. Walmart is not on the consumer's side, their goal is to grow themselves and drive other retailers out of business and to blackmail suppliers into meeting Walmart's needs. They grow like the Borg from workers who teeter on the edge of poverty. Is this what you want?

In the long-run it hurts consumers as well. There is less diversity in retailers and products and in the long run, quality suffers. For manufacturers, there is little incentive for new products or improvement, just the struggle to survive while Walmart makes all the money off someone else's labor. There is little money left for new product development. As a supplier you are forced to become a high-volume, low-quality, low-profit stooge. If you do not comply then Walmart will purchase its goods from someone else and you go out of business.

This is what is known as a monopsony, a single buyer. It is analogous to a monopoly, a single seller. In either case, capitalism breaks down and tends to abuse because a sole buyer or seller can unilaterally dictate terms. Once a company reaches a certain size it can start to monopsonize because it can purchase in volumes that smaller buyers cannot match and it uses its muscle to bully suppliers.

[NCAMILO]

I hope they start selling Macbooks. Who cares how they achieve lower prices. It's called competition and is good for consumers.
Viva Walmart!!!

[Shawn_Levasseur]

Well, all flamewars over the realtive morality of Wal-Mart aside....
I think between this and the Best Buy deal, one can only hope that this is a trend that puts an end to cell phone salesmen on commission. I NEVER want to deal with them. They have no interest in customer service beyond making the sale. And in the malls their kiosks are have jerks bugging you as you pass by, making drug pushers look subtle.
Having to go to a cell phone dealer for service is a 'bag of hurt.'
Thank god for the Apple Store.

[jedi228]

NCAMILO said:

IWho cares how they achieve lower prices. It's called competition and is good for consumers.

Viva Walmart!!!

Why is that people praise competition when it results in lower prices but they think it is evil when they have to pay higher praises. I believe that competition is good when it is real (i.e. multiple buyers and sellers with adequate information) and leads to correct pricing. This is what should happen when capitalism is working properly.

Both monopolies and monopsonies are examples of imbalance in the market place and are not good situations. Walmart tactics do not benefit the people by giving them "more left over money." Walmart pays their own employees a pitiful wage that is below comfortable living standards and this also drives down wages in the entire labor market even for those who don't work at Walmart.

You like those Macbooks eh? Quality products like Macbooks can never be created by Walmart or long-time partners. Walmart economics leads to slower innovation and less money going into development of new products and less money going into quality. Benefits for the consumer are temporary and not sustainable.

I'm glad that iPhones only get a $2 price and I'm glad that Apple isn't playing Walmart economics of high volume/low cost. Apple has high margins and they use their margins to keep improving the product. This is the kind of company I like to see. Low-cost-at-any-cost is the wrong way to go. You don't get something for nothing.