Walmart confirms iPhone

Walmart has confirmed long-standing rumors, and will soon begin selling the iPhone 3G, according to an announcement. As expected, the phone will become available on December 28th from the low-end retailer, and sell in an 8GB model for $197 or a 16GB version for $297 -- in each case, just $2 less than the prices offered by Apple, AT&T and Best Buy. Shoppers will still require a two-year contract through AT&T.

Walmart notes that its price-matching policy applies the iPhone, but the strict controls Apple and AT&T have exercised over the device will likely make this irrelevant.

The announcement also quashes any rumors of a 4GB, $99 iPhone for Walmart, which may have been based on Walmart's reputation for pushing margins to an absolute minimum, sometimes at the expense of suppliers. Apple has not produced a 4GB iPhone since the first few months of the 2G version's availability however, and has resisted scaling down capacities in newer generations of any hardware.

by MacNN Staff