Staples to start carrying Apple products in the U.S.?

Bricks-and-mortar stores may be on the ropes in a number of computer electronics categories, but selling Apple products doesn't seem to be one of them. Despite having a number of Apple stores dotting the world, the company has slowly expanded the number of retail partners who are willing and able to sell its iPhones, iPads, and Mac desktops and laptops, from Walmart to RadioShack.

Now, apparently, you can add Staples to that list. The office superstore has sold Apple products internationally, but hasn't been given a chance to carry them in the U.S. However, some excited Staples execs tweeted at the end of last week that a deal has been finalized for the retailer to start being an Apple partner in the States.

You can see the specific tweets at our sister site CNET, but according to Cult of Mac, those messages have either been removed or the execs' Twitter accounts made protected. Nothing specific was revealed about the deal, but because it hasn't been officially announced, it was obviously a bit of an embarrassment to leak the information on Twitter.

It remains to be seen which Apple products in particular Staples would be selling, though iPads and Mac computers would be a no-brainer. Staples also sells cell phones, so the iPhone could be on the list, which may not be a bad thing, given the rumors about its sales and customer demand. MacRumors says its source believes the full complement of Apple computing products will be available through Staples, and 9to5Mac was given a tip (via a mock-up page on the Staples Web site, shown above) about Apple TV going on sale, too.

The supposed deal may help Staples more than Apple, though it puts the latter company's products in front of even more eyeballs. Where Apple goes next remains to be seen, but I imagine OfficeDepot and OfficeMax are working furiously to be on that list. Does it matter to you where Apple sells it products? Let us know in the Talkback section below.

[Image via 9to5Mac]?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zdnet/computers/~3/IJRzNyWW5_s/

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