[rjshahan]

I agree that everything you said could possibly happen, with the exception of the quoted part. WalMart is so large that they could stop carrying RIM's (and many other manufacturer's) products and not bat an eye. They are known for exercising such clout. Having your product stocked in WalMart is make or break for many companies (not RIM on this point as they have plenty of other traditional outlets like the wireless carriers) just based on the sheer volume of their traffic. That clout is the reason they often can sell at prices below the competition and can be extremely liberal when accepting returns (I've seen them accept a return on a three year old DVD player that was missing the remote and power cord).

While they dominate retail sales in almost all sectors its a well known fact that Walmart has been struggling with their Electronics department. They have not been able to compete with big box electronics retailers like Best Buy. This is primarily due to Walmart's low cost image and electronics being perceived as luxury goods. For Walmart to loose RIM's relationship for nonchalance over a contract violation would undoubtedly lead to other manufacturer's dropping their business as well. With any well established business you are always looking to improve underperforming departments. Something you cannot do by alienating the vendors for products that have buzz and create foot traffic through the store.

[Mercury]

Ok first things first, I've worked at walmart here in canada as department manager of electronics. All new releases (I worked there when the wii was launched) don't get shipped to the warehouse until a few days before release and didn't make it to the store until the day/night before release. I had to be at work at 6am on the sunday the wii was released and we had to unload them off the truck and get them into the lock cabinets by 8am so the store could open to allow customers to buy.

So unless the US does things differently, which I assume they don't, this story is complete BS. There is not a chance in **** that a regular employee is able to get into the electronics lockup without the department manager or the assistant/store manager present.

So again, another stupid pointless thread. This is all just hype and as much as I'm wanting and loving to get my hands on my pb, this story is completely bogus.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[zurch]

The best thing about blackberry is this cool forum called crackberry. I love to come and just read the forums for entertainment.

[DJLILM]

this just like the other forum lol another popular topic

[bpgui]

While they dominate retail sales in almost all sectors its a well known fact that Walmart has been struggling with their Electronics department. They have not been able to compete with big box electronics retailers like Best Buy. This is primarily due to Walmart's low cost image and electronics being perceived as luxury goods. For Walmart to loose RIM's relationship for nonchalance over a contract violation would undoubtedly lead to other manufacturer's dropping their business as well. With any well established business you are always looking to improve underperforming departments. Something you cannot do by alienating the vendors for products that have buzz and create foot traffic through the store.

Other manufacturers are not going to alienate the world's largest retailer just because that retailer got into a contract dispute with one of their competitors/rivals. Many will see it as a plus for them, as they won't have to compete side by side at that retailer.

[rjshahan]

Other manufacturers are not going to alienate the world's largest retailer just because that retailer got into a contract dispute with one of their competitors/rivals. Many will see it as a plus for them, as they won't have to compete side by side at that retailer.

This is a valid point if Walmart was the largest electronics retailer. It is not, Best Buy currently holds that crown. Electronics are luxury items and consumers prefer to go to a dedicated store with more variety and better quality products.

Go to market plans are tightly choreographed routines by marketing departments. If a channel develops a reputation for ignoring them and shipping product before release date, most manufacturers will be wary of sending product to that retailer at launch. Especially when they are not the largest retailer in the sector.

Walmart is well aware of this, they worked hard to get their other departments to where they are, and are still developing their electronics business.

[bpgui]

This is a valid point if Walmart was the largest electronics retailer. It is not, Best Buy currently holds that crown. Electronics are luxury items and consumers prefer to go to a dedicated store with more variety and better quality products.

That's all well and good. I realize Best Buy is the largest electronics retailer, but WalMart is the largest retailer. And I'd imagine the vast majority of consumers (non tech geeks, like us) don't care where they get their electronics, and would buy them wherever they can get them the cheapest, be it at WalMart (or KMart or Staples or Target or anywhere) if the specific item they wanted was available. BestBuy has the advantage on the availability portion, it is their whole store, not just a section. However, they don't (usually) have the price advantage on identical items. Anyway, WalMart's sheer size and volume practically guarantee that RIM's competitors wouldn't just stop selling through them because of a contract dispute between WalMart and RIM. We'll just have to disagree on that point.

But anyway, this is getting off topic from my original point of disputing the statement that WalMart needs RIM more than RIM needs WalMart.

[kbz1960]

BS..........................

[pkcable]

[organized_mayhem]

Story is all bs. For one it would be under lock and key and two the upc won't even be in their computer as a for sale item until the release. It may be in the computer already but no register would allow a sale of it. I have family that work for Walmart and in the electronic section.

[SCrid2000]

Seems more likely the person you talked to doesn't even know what the Playbook is.