iPods Could Appear in Wal-Mart in April

In what could signal trouble for the Windows Media based digital music industry, reports indicate that retail giant Wal-Mart is set to receive shipments of the iPod shuffle in April of this year. According to sources, the flash based-music player may be made available in all of the chain's 5,000 stores.

Wal-Mart will feature the iPod shuffle in its March flyer and announce availability, says Mac enthusiast site AppleInsider, which first reported the news.

The discount chain is already selling iPod minis in a "limited number of stores," according to a Wal-Mart spokesperson, however the company declined to say how many of the 5,000 stores are carrying the device. Walmart.com sells a variety of iPod accessories and the HP version of the iPod.

A product feature normally requires 50 units for each store, which in this case could be split between the two models, with more ordered for higher traffic stores. This could mean the initial iPod shuffle order would be some 250,000 units.

According to AppleInsider's research, the April date was agreed upon after Apple informed Wal-Mart that it could not guarantee order fulfillment at a later date. Wal-Mart originally planned to run the promotion later in the year.