Wal-Mart To Sell Apple iPad, But Not Very Many

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) will begin to sell the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad, which would not make much difference since the tablet is available almost everywhere else.

The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets say that the device will go on sale Friday at the retail giant. It will not be offered at a discount. Customers can order the iPad at walmart.com but will have to come to pick up the product at the store.

It is hard to see how Apple will benefit from the partnership since Wal-Mart’s sales  of the iPad will be modest. Wal-Mart is often late to market with consumer electronics devices and usually claims that the size of its customer base makes up for that.

Research shows that the median income of Wal-Mart shoppers is about $35,000 compared to the national average income of more than $50,000. These people are eager to buy Wal-Mart’s clothing and food, but are probably not the normal demographic for iPads.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Apple retail stores–which are much more likely to have affluent consumers–will almost certainly sell more iPads than Wal-Mart, even though the world’s largest retailer has more than 4,000 locations in the US.

The iPad is  available at the apple.com site and it even ships free when ordered there. Why anyone would buy one at a Wal-Mart is a mystery.

Douglas A. McIntyre