That Happened!

New York - America’s biggest retail giant Wal-Mart will soon be selling the world famous Apple iphone 3G.

The stories published by Bloomberg and San Joe Mercury News made it even more clear that the Wal-Mart employees made it clear that iphone will be soon sold over the counter by the American retail magnet like the other smartphones like Samsung, Palm, RIM etc.

According to Reuters several employees of Wal-Mart had a firm speculation about selling of iphone through the retailer in one or maximum two weeks time. Although, there has been no official statement from Wal-Mart’s side on the iphone issue. When contacted the sales associates at Wal-Mart said that the employees are under training on the iphone’s sales process.

The morning trade today witnessed a 5 percent hike in apple shares, as the rumors were hot that the iphone will be available on the shelves of Wal-Mart by the end of the year 2008. With such a big deal there are speculations in the industry about a 4GB variant of the Smartphone, which can store more than a thousand songs. The rumors were treated even more seriously when on Monday CNBC said the 4GB variant will be costing as low as $99 at the shelf of the American retail tycoon. But An Apple spokesperson said that we would not comment on any speculation or rumors prevailing in the market.

Analysts at the New York stock exchange were eagerly looking at the developments on both sides, they predict this deal would be beneficial, as it will help apple to boost up its sales figures. Currently the phone is also offered by Best Buy Co Inc.

Wal-Mart has proven itself strong enough in the middle of a crucial recession in the U.S. It has gained market share as strapped for cash shoppers look out for its low down prices, especially on sizzling electronics.

Presently there is a monopoly of AT&T Inc in providing the wireless services for the iphone in the U.S. They sell the variant with 16GB storage space for $299 and the 8GB variant for $199. They didn’t comment.

While bearing the cost of the handset, the buyers have to pay for data services which cost no less than $30 per month, which enables the boundless internet access. The text messaging service costs an additional $5 per month meant for two hundred messages, there is an option of unlimited text messaging service that costs around $20 per month.