If you've been wanting to lay your hands on the iPhone 5, now is a good time as Walmart has discounted the smartphone and is now offering it for just $129. Such a price drop on an Apple product is unprecedented, given the company's limitation policies on price cuts, and has fueled speculations that the discount could be due to the iPhone 5S' imminent launch.
Walmart has lowered the price of the iPhone 5 by $60 and has also discounted the price of the iPhone 4S by $50. The discounts will come into effect from Saturday June 22 and to avail the deal, consumers will need to sign a two-year contract with Verizon, Sprint or AT&T.
According to a Mashable report, "Walmart is aggressively lowering the price on Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S. Beginning Saturday, the iPhone 5 will sell for $129 (down from $189) and the iPhone 4S will sell for just $39 (down from $89). To get the devices at that price will require signing a new two-year contract with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint."
Mashable contacted the retailer to find out if the price cut was temporary but was told by Walmart that this would be the permanent price for the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S. However, the discounted pricing for the Apple smartphones is only applicable in brick and mortar Walmart stores and is not available online.
Mashable also contacted Apple for "comment on the price drop" but was yet to hear back anything from the company at the time of going to press.
Recently, Best Buy too launched a promotion (which is currently on) and lets iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S users trade-in their smartphone for the iPhone 5.
With nearly 70 percent and 30 percent discounts being offered on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, respectively, by Walmart, speculations are rife that the retailer could be looking to clear its inventory before Apple launches the next-gen iPhone (anticipated to be soon).
Historically, the purchases of the previous-gen iPhone becomes slow or stops as the launch of the next iteration nears, which in this case is the much-rumored iPhone 5S.
The iPhone 5S is rumored to house the faster A7 processor, improved camera and could possibly tout a fingerprint reader. With leaks of the alleged smartphone becoming frequent, a trend which is common prior to the phone's launch, we could see the iPhone 5S debut soon.
