Wal-Mart to reportedly sell iPhone

Internet on Monday was abuzz with word that US retail king Wal-Mart will add iPhone mobile devices to its shelves of bargains by year's end, perhaps at prices as low as 99 dollars each.

-Mart and notoriously tight-lipped Apple executives declined to comment on "rumor and speculation" but employees at various stores throughout the United States made it clear they expect iPhones in stock within weeks.

Some websites are predicting Wal-Mart to offer iPhones for prices as low as 99 dollars, while others counter that even the powerhouse retail chain might not manage to halve the current basement iPhone price of 199 dollars.

"Wal-Mart can do it," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. "They are aggressive at using products like this as store draws. They are probably giving up all the profit on the device; and the result is boosting traffic."

main reason Wal-Mart has remained profitable while competitors have been pounded in the ongoing economic storm is that it has been adept at keeping people flowing into its stores, according to Enderle.

It is in Apple's interest to work with Wal-Mart to make iPhones bargain buys because the innovative mobile devices come saddled with pricey AT&T service plans that might intimidate potential customers worried about their paychecks.

"People at risk of losing jobs might hesitate," Enderle said. "I think Apple will come around to realize that a lot of their products are priced out of the market right now."

cost about 174 dollars to make and a typical per-phone subsidy by telecom giant AT&T could tally about 100 dollars, meaning Wal-Mart could essentially sell iPhones at close to cost to lure shoppers, Enderle said.

are sold in the United States at Apple and AT&T stores as well as at popular Best Buy electronics chain.

of iPhone 3G models have rocketed since the touch-screen motion-sensing devices geared for high-speed wireless Internet networks hit the market in July with starting prices of 199 dollars per handset.

sales of iPhones more than quintupled between September of last year and the end of the same month this year, according to a report released by technology industry research firm Canalysis.com.

outsold BlackBerry devices worldwide during the three months that ended October 1. Apple iPhones had 17.3 percent of the market and were closing ground on Nokia, which held 38.9 percent, Canalysis reported.

sales were 15.2 percent of the global mobile phone market in the quarter, according to the Britain-based research firm.