Wal-Mart holds a sizeable reputation, aside from its massive market share, as the world’s top retailer. It could be called the most important retailer in the entire industry, and implicitly to Apple and the rest of the tech industry.
Friday it was announced that the iPhone is coming to Wal-Mart stores on Sunday, and it could deeply impact the cell phone industry. Apple could essentially increase its output, already one of the highest in its field, by the millions of Wal-Mart customers. Its competitors in the business of making smartphones, such as Research in Motion (RIM), Google, Motorola and the like could be severely outfaced unless they adopt similar strategies.
It is clear that Wal-Mart will have a tremendous impact on the way the smartphone business works. It is the largest retailer in the world, and delivers to a target audience looking for affordable gadgets. With the iPhone selling for $197 to $297 depending on the version, it’s not inconceivable that the Wal-Mart crowd will be all over the new kid in town.
A few years back cell phones could only be found at the carrier’s store, but Apple is at the head of the “revolution” that has set out to change that. In two years since its debut, the iPhone has become a device that can be widely found beyond the carrier’s store premises. Apple Stores carry it, as well as Best Buy, AT&T shops, online stores and now Wal-Mart, which is the biggest retailer of them all. Even though the iPhone is only available through AT&T, that hasn’t done much to slow down iPhone sales, and Wal-Mart availability will offset that even more.
RIM is a heavy contender where smartphones are concerned, and Symbian should be heeded as well. Nevertheless, the iPhone is one of the most wanted and sold gadgets of the past ten years, as well as relatively affordable, not to mention available to millions of people in thousands of locations worldwide. RIM and the others will have to pull some serious aces from up their sleeves to compete.
One may believe from the words above that this author recommends the iPhone as the better product. This is not the case, as feature-wise products like the RIM BlackBerry line excels, especially in the professional-end capabilities. For this reason, businessmen, politicians and other high-end users continue to prefer it. On the other hand where the masses are concerned, Apple seems to have hit the sweet spot with a balance of features, affordability and availability. Add to that an App Store that thousands of developers have brought their applications to, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a match.
A possible match here, at least software-wise would be Google’s Android OS and market, but even that is only in its starting phase; right now as things stand, Apple has dealt the blow that will ensure its dominance in the world of smartphones for quite a while.
