iPad coming to Walmart stores next week - rumor - Page 3

It is sad tht the boutiques are losing so badly to the big box retailers.

His statement is odd. I'm sure the same people that shop at the Apple Store also shop at WalMart who also shop at dollar stores. This is a new level of elitism: Shopism? Establishmentarianism?

What's ironic about this is that Apple's role in society has been to continually find ways to bring their goods to consumers in ways no one else had been able. They've singlehandedly paved the consumer markets that others have followed in to push cheap goods. From personal computing to PMPs to smrtphones and now to tablets. In each of those categories the market existed in some fashion but wasn't a focus for the average consumer. These other companies, especially the ones using Android should thank Apple for at least giving them a second chance befre going under. (that should upset a few posters )

Those poor, poor big box retailers.

Walmart is the epitome of what has gone wrong with american style capitalism. You save pennies in the short term and pay for it in dollars in the long term. They do this by externalizing costs such as decent assembly and support (bikes, for example). Buy crap assembled by monkeys. Have it break down on day 3. Take it to your local expert and ask him to fix it for free. What? He wants to charge? Thats more than I paid for the whole bike! No way, Jose. I'm not paying. Sticks bike on rafters for next yard sale.

If costs were only externalized to local businesses you could say it was the free market at work. Far from it. The biggest costs are shifted to social services. By paying their workers poorly, hiring illegals, and providing no health care in many cases, they pass the cost of a living wage to me, the taxpayer. I may as well send my my tax dollars directly to Bentonville.

I'm ready for the flames from the libertarians but know this; we are all making ourselves poor by saving 5 cents on toilet paper. And if you think this only affects blue collar types, think again. The new economy is coming to the middle class at a town near you. I'm not going for it without at least mild resistance. I have a walmart a mile from me and I can do my own tech support but I will never buy an iPad or anything else there. I'd rather order directly from apple or drive 1 hr to the apple store (yes, I am aware of the environmental impact).

I agree. Americans have a very short sighted view of what constitutes value. Usually equated with a low price as the only consideration. Pay $13 for a blender only to have break in 4 months. Throw it away and go get another.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, and what do they sell? Crap!

Coca-Cola is the largest beverage company in the world, and what do they sell? Sugary crap!

McDonald's is the largest restaurant chain in the world, and what do they sell? Salty crap!

MicroSoft is the largest software manufacturer in the world, and what do they sell? Buggy crap!

GM is (was) the largest Auto manufacturer in the world, and what do they sell? Crap with high gas mileage!

Goldman Sachs the largest Investment Banker in the world, and what do they sell? Securitized crap!

HP is the largest PC manufacturer in the world, and what do they sell? Creaky, plasticky crap!

If you can sell "crap" you can make a lot of money....It's just not a business model that I would be particularly proud of implementing....could you imagine working for Coke or McDonald's? How proud could you be?

Thanks Apple. I only wish there were more companies like Apple.

Best

I work at a Canadian Walmart and I can assure you the parking lot has more than it's share of BMWs, Mercedes, $40,000 SUVs, etc.

Being as I have an employee discount, I do hope that the iPad will be sold at Walmart but I do have one concern. In order for one to end up with a happy customer, that customer has to have some notion of what he or she is buying. Expecting an iPad to do everything that a typical computer can do would lead to big-time disappointment. Talking to one chap last week, he seemed to be of the view that his friends were disappointed in the iPad. That disappointment can only mean those purchasers didn't really understand what they were buying.

I'd hate to see people buying an iPad at a Walmart thinking they were getting a full-function computer because the person selling them the device didn't know enough to explain it properly. You can't expect to make every customer happy because God knows there are some very tech illiterates out there who are sadly rather clueless. I was told a while back about one customer who was convinced that a computer was broken because it couldn't do searches while not connected to the Internet.

What do you think I was using?

High gas mileage is a good thing.

OK Folks, I'm going to you that word, "FANBOY ALERT"... Everyone makes "Crap" do they, expect for "elegant and "delicious" Apple.

Sorry folks, there's very little difference between a fanboy and a troll. They're both uninformed and make senseless posts...

Enjoy your "elegant" products. I'm going to grab a "crappy" diet coke then take a ride in my "crappy" Chevrolet.

Who supposes? You? The American Academy of Certified Supposers?

Betcha Steve Jobs and anybody working for him don't give a hoot about "high-endedness." Again, read and try to comprehend his quote in #19 above.

The only high end around here may be yours. I suppose - you suppose - your end is higher than your nose.

How unusual for you to use Fanboy as an argument. Must be an off day.

The iPad is actually cheap, as is the Nano, as is the iPod touch,

Nice. Why don't you just have the balls to come right out and say "what is this world coming to, when just anybody can buy the special thing that I have! Why, the next thing you know, they'll be selling these things to poor people and factory workers!"

Consumer electronics isn't exactly like jewelry or fine clothing or luxury cars or dining in a fine French restaurant. The filthy rich can buy a Chanel iPad case for $1555 or a Louis Vuitton iPad case for $390 and up if they want to show off their status but even they won't pay more for technology or gadgets if they don't have to. Do you think the rich will buy a Samsung or Dell tablet if it was priced at $2000?

I recently saw a $3500 Samsung 3D 55" HDTV at Sam's Club that was really amazing. Apparently, these things are moving or they wouldn't be there. I'm not a fan of places like Walmart, Target, Costco, etc. but my family shops there because it's convenient and there are choices as well as value. The shopper still has to be reasonably informed and make the right choice when buying something. Not everything at these places is junk.

From an investor point of view, the story is not so much about Walmart, it's about Apple finally making enough iPads to meet demands, especially before the holidays season. Coupling that with the finding that Android is not yet suitable for tablet form as acknowledged by Google, I think this is going to be another blow-out quarter for Apple.

Good thing you didn't include women... they're not ready for the iPad yet...

Uh ... you tell that to my wife ... not me, pal!

Grow up, grow a beard or something.

I thought his post was fabulously funny, and spot on. (Yeah, another fanboy).

I think you articulated very well what my sense of unease has been, with selling a product such as the iPad through Walmart or Target. It has nothing to do with 'elitism' or any of that nonsense, as much as concern about their getting good (and true) buying advice so that a consumer is not deeply disappointed after-the-fact. That's the sort of word-of-mouth that Apple does not want.

An apt comparison.

The iPad is a redefinition of the computer for the masses. No plastic boxes with drawers, stickers, wires hanging out--the iPod of computers. It could be sold in Walmart, Radio Shack, Tesco, KMart, who cares. Apple has the service organization to support it already in place. That is where the buyer gets to see the way the company is thoroughly humanizing the technology.

VW was doing the same thing during the late 50s and all through the 60s. I don't recall their highest market share, but I have a picture of an Eastern U.S. expressway which captured 29 cars, seven of which are VWs.

If I knew how to attach a jpg here (without using a URL?) I would do so. Anybody? It's a great shot.

This is a concern, and one which I share. But speaking for myself (not you, anantksundaram) is this also elitist thinking, to be worried about them? I.e., how are the presumed ignorati at Walmart going to know how to get the iPad hooked up and running?

Everybody do a survey at their local Target/Walmart and see who's buying them. And who's selling them.

This thread is hilarious and all kinds of wrong. lol

Was just at Walmart today (Sunday) and I saw the 64gb Wi-Fi/3g....that's the only one I saw.

How about you just deal with it? Having iPods and Touches at Walmart didn't ruin Apple's image. Why would iPads suddenly change that? The people that said your belief back about iPods at Walmart turned out to be wrong, so by precedence, you probably will be too.

Pretty much all big box retailers are pretty sad in one way or another, but that's the best way to get good distribution. Radio Shack, Best Buy and Target have their problems too, but they do manage to move product. For multiple reasons, independent Apple resellers don't have much of a presence anymore, and Apple Retail isn't a a total solution either, there are entire states and major countries without an Apple Retail location.

Today should be the first day they went on sale. Maybe there is limited stock.

I make really good money to afford to shop anywhere and I like shopping at Walmart so suck it. Why do I shop there? Better choices and better value. I seriously prefer their selection over local grocery store. Why pay more if I don't have to. For those that say walmart makes crap is full of crap themselves...that is soooo biased and over opinioned. Get over it people shop there and wherever. It does not degrade anything besides the two walmarts I shop at are in upscale neighborhoods so they look really nice inside nothing about them says cheap. I'm sorry yours may look bad or cheap to you but that is not the case everywhere.

The difference is that there is no likelihood for confusion with the iPod and Touch. Everybody knows that these devices are intended to work in tandem with a computer and that they are not computer substitutes. The iPad, on the other hand, might be misinterpreted as being a computer alternative.

You shop at Walmart because of the price, generally, but then again staff expertise is not something likely to be of a calibre to match what you would get from let's say an Apple retailer, be it an Apple Store or a retailer specializing in Apple products.

It comes down to a trade-off, i.e. better distribution at the expense of selling the product through outlets staffed with people who can provide decent advice. I suppose that if you're going to offer the product through a Best Buy, it's not much of an upgrade on selling it via Walmart.

In either case you have to hope consumers will know what they're getting themselves into. I suspect that Apple is counting on people figuring the process of using the iPad is the same as the Touch and since the Touch has been around for a while, that means an easy transition to the new product.

I see. But still, I wonder if it really is any worse than selling in Best Buy, which tends to suffer from many of the same maladies. They supposedly have trained Apple specialists in BB stores, but I have little confidence in most of the people that do show up in that role.

Heck, we get a lot of iPad fans here that do present iPad as a computer alternative. The truth is more complicated, and it sounds like iOS 4.2 will blur the line a little more.

Oh Yes, Everyone agrees!!!! Every company in the world is "crap" except Apple!! Yes, that was a fabulous POST!!!! Obvious a real Intelligent person posted that!!!

Just out of curiosity, are you going to try out for the Jr. High Football team next year when you are old enough?

As the iPad gains functionality, in time it can evolve into a computer alternative but there is going to be a dangerous period, i.e. right now, when it will not, nor should it be expected to. Sadly, when it comes to technology, many people are simply not willing to take a few minutes to figure out the basics. There are still people, quite a few actually, that think HD TV means a flat-panel, big screen, regardless of what manner of signal is fed into it. People are simply ill-informed because they think it takes a lot of effort to figure out the basics. This is absolutely not the case but what are you going to do? It is what it is.

I will say that by not allowing the iPad to run a full-on variant of Mac OSX, at least Apple has tried to drive home the fact that it is a distinct device, more closely aligned with the iPhone/Touch than any Mac laptop or desktop.

I don't have the physique to be in football. Otherwise I might have.

'Ignorati' are not merely a Walmart phenomenon.

The issue here is the quality of the sales-people. (It's likely the same issue with Target or Best Buy).

I don't really foresee anyone getting confused over Apple's brand image or that of their products. When their prices start to dip, then you can start arguing this until you're blue in the face, but as long as they remain where they are,

The fact that the iPod and now the iPhone has become so ubiquitous makes Apple a mass-market CE like it or not, just like another user said. With that in mind, it would be to Apple's advantage to give their product as much exposure as possible - what better way to do that than through WallyWorld??

Someday you may have an argument rather than an ad hominen attack.

Well, probably not. But, try.

I was clarifying as many know I am an ex Brit. I wasn't intending to infer you weren't.

Except in the US it's called "being hip" rather than about "being classy"

Yeah, I think theoretically Apple shouldn't sell Apple gear anywhere outside of Apple Stores.

BTW WHERE IS THE iPAD FOR ALL THE OTHER, oh, 70 COUNTRIES where it hasn't launched yet?

I'm sad Wallmart gets it first before Phillipines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea or whatever.

Somebody tell me what's wrong with this picture of the iPad rollout:

-Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad from U.S. customers on March 12, 2010.
-The Wi-Fi version of the iPad went on sale in the United States on April 3, 2010.
-The Wi-Fi + 3G version was released on April 30.
-The iPad was launched in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom on May 28.
-Apple released the iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore on 23 July 2010.
-On September 17, 2010 the iPad officially launched in China.

Let's see.

March 12 pre-orders, April 3 wifi, April 30th wifi+3g shipping in USA. Australia and Europe May 28. Okay, so essentially 2 months to launch outside the US. Then another 2 months later, only four small European countries, three small Asia Pacific countries. Then yet another agonising 2 months later, only China.

At this pace of the rollout the international launch of iPad seems to be slowing down!

Something is going on. Something, magical, in the background. iPad 2 has been ramping up for global launches?!!!

Can anybody make sense of what is happening? I've been observing for a while, in 2nd half of calendar 2010 I am modelling 3 million iPads per month sold.

But Apple being so quiet on the International front (remember non-US revenue can roughly be half of all revenue) means something is brewing.

Sell them Apple products. The best computer for them.

I don't understand what it is that has you thinking anything is amiss. Apple wants to ensure that it can meet demand in the markets that it has launched in. It is methodically managing the rollout to avoid problems.

As for iPad 2 coming sooner than later, what manufacturer with a runaway hit on its hands is going to be in a rush to revamp said product. If Apple is selling far more of these devices than it expected, ride this thing for a while and make boatloads of money.

Let the competition plan out a response to the current iPad while Apple works on what's next. Keep in mind that most competitors have yet to come to market with their tablets. So let iPad Version 1 be the target through the balance of this calendar year. Once iPad Version 2 hits the streets, likely early next year. competitors will have gotten so far along in developing their tablets that it will be too late to react to the new version through the first half of 2011.This way, Apple remains one step ahead, much as it has been with its iPod line. If Apple were to rush out iPad Version 2, the advantage would go to the competition in that their first attempts would take into consideration what Apple will be selling for the rest of this year and the first half of 2011. Now all the competition can do is react to what Apple willing be selling through the rest of 2010, only their products will come to market next year when it will be iPad Version 2 on sale, not the first-gen model.

I just don't see a new version of the iPad this holiday season. It's not like 2011 is far away. We're talking a few months.

By the way, so far, whatever I've predicted is going to happen, Apple has done the opposite.

I am not a snob but if you know anything about marketing this is not a good strategy for apple. Stick to your resellers not use Target or walmart to carry your products. Apple supposedly is a high end name in the computer industry and by downgrading it to walmart where you can buy fruits and cheap electronics the name apple loses it's prestige a lot and people eventually will lose their admiration for this company.Is Jobs that hard up for profits? Walmart is not in the Philippines .Another thing the people at walmart are underpaid what they do I know this for a fact.