To maintain its impressive popularity, the iPhone has moved beyond being sold in Apple Stores to wireless carrier stores, Best Buy, on the Internet, and now, at the most significant retailer of them all, Walmart. Indeed, a recent announcement that the iPhone will be available on Walmart store shelves, including a much rumoured $99 exclusive version, has signified Apple’s flashy phone is ready to enter the mainstream.

As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart caters to an enormous, price conscious, customer base. Due to the weak economy, selling iPhones at Walmart could be intended to counter potentially weaker sales at the wireless carrier and Best Buy stores. Therefore, it is possible that Walmart loyalists would purchase the phone at the store, rationalizing that if Walmart sells it, the price could not be any lower. On the other hand, some consumers could be turned off by the fact that the iPhone is now sold at Walmart, seeing it as brand dilution of a device that is often perceived as an item of luxury. There is no doubt that Apple is an expert at marketing their products as superior to their competitors. However, even if they lose some consumers due to this move, Apple is ready to significantly compensate by gaining sales from the vast number of Walmart shoppers.

Apple does stand a good chance of gaining considerable traction at Walmart, but not completely to the exclusion of its competitors. Walmart has been offering non-Apple smartphones such as the BlackBerry Curve and the Nokia N95. Besides those, Walmart is selling the Apple iPod family of products, including the iPod Touch, and therefore offering the iPhone as well is a logical extension for the retailer.

Since the news first broke in early December, Walmart began offering the iPhone at a mere $2 discount, with the hope of boosting the holiday sales and beyond. No $99 iPhone was introduced. In retrospect, having the large distribution channels offered by Walmart doesn’t appear to have hurt the brand. All in all, besides being available in more stores, the key for the long-term success of the iPhone is persistent improvements of an already good product and its applications in order to stay competitive and further increase its market share.