U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart is selling Apple Computeris iPod mini in "select stores," the company confirmed Monday to The Mac Observer, but refused to discuss any future plans to carry the iPod shuffle.
Company spokeswoman Karen Burk told TMO, "the iPod mini is carried in a limited number of our stores," but would not elaborate on where or how many of its 5,000-plus stores were carrying the product. A number of TMO readers have confirmed Wal-Mart locations in Houston, Texas, Stillwater, Okla., and Columbus, Ohio as selling the product at its normal retail price of US$249.00 with no additional discount, and selling a number of Apple-branded add-ons, such as iPod cables, docks and cases.
Ms. Burke did not know if all the iPod mini colors were being carried in the selected stores. Currently, Wal-Mart sells the Hewlett-Packard-branded iPod and additional, third-party accessories.
Ms. Burke did not respond to questions regarding rumors that Wal-Mart would begin stocking Appleis iPod shuffle in the near future. The report by Mac news site AppleInsider said Wal-Mart would initially stock about 50 iPod shuffleis at each of its stores.
Appleis public relations department has turned down repeated attempts by TMO for comment on the Wal-Mart report as well as the confirmed report of iPod mini sales.