Apple iPhone for $99 at Wal-Mart? Hogwash on Aisle 7

Inevitable?

Well, let's go to this weekend's Mercury News. Remember, it was one of the publications that helped start the rumor. But here's its unapologetic lead, debunking it:

"Wal-Mart on Friday confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in technology: It will begin selling Apple's iPhone on Sunday. But the retail giant officially knocked down one other rumor that had been making the rounds: It won't be selling a special 4-gigabyte version of the iconic phone for $99."

The Mercury News' excuse for pushing the rumor comes much lower:

"A Wal-Mart employee seemed to substantiate those rumors when she told the Mercury News earlier this month that the company would indeed sell such a device. No other Wal-Mart employees the Mercury News spoke with at the time were aware of such a plan to sell a $99 device."

A Wal-Mart employee? This, mind you, was a store-level manager.

Look, when the business media make a mistake like this, they won't point out that they were horribly wrong, then take a step back and analyze why. That's a shame because it's always the why that helps you, the savvy investor, figure out how business and finance work in the long run.

As The Business Press Maven just got through pointing out, Apple is a company that plays future product releases close to the vest. The only company that keeps secrets as well is Wal-Mart. Don't you think these two companies, working together, would do better than let a single store level manager let a secret out of a bag? Moreover, unless you are a total thicko when it comes to how business works, you have to realize that when two companies are launching a product together, there are competing interests at play.