The iPad Is Coming to Wal-Mart [RUMOR]

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MacRumors received a copy of an e-mail allegedly sent to Wal-Mart store managers to let them know that each store will receive five of each of the six iPad models, plus accessories like a wireless keyboard, a dock and a case. One thousand of Wal-Mart's approximately 3,550 stores will carry the iPad models by the end of this month, with the first stores to carry stock doing so sometime next week. By the end of November, 800 more stores will carry the iPad.

Wal-Mart's senior vice president of entertainment said earlier this year that he hoped the department store would carry the iPad by the end of the year. The device has been selling very well since its debut, so big profits aren't out of the question.

You could only buy an iPad directly from Apple or at Best Buy stores when the tablet was first released, but now it's available at Target and Amazon, too. Apple's trying to put the device in front of more consumers, presumably to move further beyond the gadget enthusiast crowd to draw more casual technology users, for whom the company believes the simple-but-sophisticated device is well-suited.