CHESSNOID

I remember last year when these Apple iPhones came out for $599 with people waiting in line to buy them.  I think a couple of months after that Apple reduced the prices down to $399 which seemed like a great price.

This year Apple reduced the price of their new version iPhones which is faster down to $199 with a 2 year service contract.  They also started selling their phones beyond the Apple and AT&T stores. Bestbuy was added to the retail sales force to sell the iPhones.

Now there are rumors that Walmart will be selling these toys, I mean iPhones at $99.

According to rumors that have been circulating over the past few weeks, Wal-Mart is set to become the second-largest U.S. retailer (after Best Buy) to offer Apple’s popular iPhone. Neither Apple nor Wal-Mart has officially confirmed the deal yet, but employees from the latter have been telling the media that the deal will, in fact, go through.

While the sale of the iPhone through the mega-retailer is certainly a big deal, the most interesting aspect of the rumor is the rebirth of the 4GB iPhone, which was discontinued by Apple last year. According to speculation, the new low-capacity model will become the cheapest iPhone ever, at $99 (with a two-year AT&T contract, naturally).

If the deal does go through before the holidays, it’s sure to prove a huge money maker for Apple, AT&T, and Wal-Mart. It got us wondering, however, what other handsets one can pick up through Wal-Mart for that price. We did some rooting around to find out what else consumers can get for $99 (via walmart.com). In some cases, a new two-year plan may be required, or the price may require a rebate.

Personally, I would have bought one at $399 and definitely at $199 if the service contract was cheaper. At $99 the price of the phone is a steal, but the monthly fees seem to be high for now. Maybe that will be the next thing to start going down. Or better yet, they could create a prepaid plan with no commitments.

The Apple iPhones have been successful and have over 13 million sold so far. There are programmers becoming rich from selling iPhone apps too. Newsweek:

Apple introduced the first iPhone in June 2007 and followed up in July of this year with a 3G model that offers faster data-transfer speeds. Apple has sold 13 million iPhones, and in the third quarter of this year sold more units than Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. In terms of revenue, Apple claims now to be the third-biggest mobile-phone maker in the world, after Nokia and Samsung.