As expected, the Apple iPad has made its way to Sam’s Club stores and is now available for sale from the discount retailer. Surprisingly, Sam’s Club will be selling the tablet device with a slight discount. The WiFi version is available for $488 which is $12 less than the suggested retail price. The WiFi+3G version is available for $609, a $20 price reduction. It is not known whether this reduction in price comes directly from Apple or if Sam’s Club is reducing its bottom line on the device.
While the price discount is a nice bonus, it is the presence of the iPad in Sam’s Club that is significant. The tablet device launched exclusively with Apple and was available only in Apple retail stores and its online storefront. Initially, supply was low, demand was high, and the Cupertino company struggled to keep the tablet in stock.
Now that supply constraints have eased, Apple is expanding its reach by bringing the iPad into big box retailers like Target and Wal-Mart. Apple even reached out to wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T, both of which now sell the tablet device online or in stores. The time frame for this retail expansion was undoubtedly orchestrated to take advantage of the holiday shopping season and Apple is hoping this move will bring in a signficant number of additional sales.
These extra sales are essential if the iPad is to continue as the reigning king of tablet devices. iPad sales, though robust, did not meet analyst’s expectations for Apple’s latest reported quarterly earnings. The popular tablet device is also facing some heated competition from the oncoming deluge of Android tablets, most notable of which is the Samsung Galaxy Tab which recently launched in the US.
[Via 9to5MAC]