Are Macs and Wal-Marts a good match?


Apparently, there are plans afoot for Wal-Mart to sell Macs, as well as iPhones and iPods, in at least some of their stores. I'm not sure that's a good idea, but it's worth pursuing, at least on a trial basis.

Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes told clients Tuesday recent report that Wal-Mart is revamping the electronics sections in 3,500 of its stores this week, adding Apple-designated areas. Reitzes says that expanding the Macs into Wal-Mart will require more sub-US$1,000 products to go along with the $599 Mac mini and entry level $999 MacBook.

On one hand, it's hard for me to see the retail giant, whose brand is built on touting the affordability and low cost of the items it carries, offering anything approaching a true Mac experience. Certainly there'll be no Mac Pros or 17-inch MacBook Pros on the shelves.

The Mac mini and the entry-level MacBook will, as Reitzes notes, probably have the most appeal to Wal-Martians. Probably low-end iMacs will be on sale there as well. Ditto for the much-rumored "iPad" if and when it sees the light of day.

The advantage of Wal-Marts carrying Macs is that the brand will be available to those who live in small towns with no Apple retail stores or Apple dealers, such as my hometown of Huntingdon, Tennessee. Yes, I realize that anyone can order from Apple's online store, but nothing replaces a hands-on experience, especially when it comes to items such as computers. 

The question is: what sort of experience will Wal-Mart offer potential Mac buyers? If there are no employees familiar with the Mac (and I'd guess this would be the case) or if the Apple section is poorly maintained, in the long run the Mac might suffer more than it would gain.

But that may be a risk worth taking. If the Mac is exposed to a much wider audience (and Wal-Mart rules the retail world, for better or worse), hopefully new people will be won over to the platform. And if they eventually move on from Mac minis and low-priced MacBooks to Apple's mid to high-end range of products, so much the better.