Sams Club to sell the iPhone and iPad

October 14, 2010 By Jeffrey Van Camp

Sam's Club joins Wal-Mart and a growing list of retailers offering the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch lineup.

Who isn’t selling the iPad and iPhone these days? Wal-Mart’s buy-in-bulk members-only store, Sam’s Club, has jumped on the Apple bandwagon. At an investors meeting today, as reported by CNET, representatives confirmed that the warehouse store will begin selling the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod Touch in the near future, though no official date or pricing information was given. The news comes a day after partent-company Wal-Mart announced that it would begin selling the iPad in some stores on Friday, with a full 2,300 store roll-out by the middle of November.

Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club join a growing list of retailers offering the top-selling Apple products. Best Buy and Target also sell the devices alongside official Apple and AT&T stores.

According to Bernstein Research, the iPad is the fastest selling gadget of all time, with more than 8 million units sold since it launched in April. Apple’s expansion into a wider array of retail outlets could be a preemptive move against the mounting competition in the tablet and smartphone spaces. Google’s Android operating system appears to be the platform of choice for many upcoming iPad-like tablets. Competition from other mobile operating systems like Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7, RIM’s BlackBerry, and even a HP-revamped WebOS is also possible.

Is it a smart move for Apple to offer its products in such a large number of stores? Will increased availability and discounts from major retailers make the devices less cool, or are are you hunting for your membership card now?

Showing 4 comments

sell iphone at 9:04pm 20th December 2010 Apple is flooding the market with I Phones and I Pads to become the gold standard in smart phones and computer tablets. Think VHS and BETA. For more details visit http://www.cashforiphones.com
@marketsecrets at 1:20pm 15th October 2010 Sams has always been one of my favorite places to shop and they usually have great laptops for bargain prices so these Apple products will only enhance their selections. And although many well to do folks see Sams as a place where peasants shop they are really stepping it up by selling ipads and iphones Now I never wanted the iphone because of attt service issues in my area but now that Verizon will be selling them towards the end of this year I can just go to Sams and get one.
@jobregon at 9:26pm 14th October 2010 I think that Apple products like the I Phone have reached the summit of coolness. There are many other phones that perform the same functions as an I Phone, and many people are buying these phones, because they are more accessible, less expensive and you can choose your cell phone carrier. Apple is flooding the market with I Phones and
1. @jobregon at 9:28pm 14th October 2010 Apple is flooding the market with I Phones and I Pads to become the gold standard in smart phones and computer tablets. Think VHS and BETA