Walmart, Best Buy Already Slashing iPhone 5c Prices

Walmart is once again undercutting Apple (AAPL) on its own phone, slashing the price of the new iPhone 5c to $45 -- less than half the $99 suggested retail price.

The iPhone 5s and 5c came out on Sept. 20, and at the time Walmart (WMT) surprised everyone by selling the phones at below-market prices of $189 and $79, respectively. Now, just two weeks after that launch, the price on the downmarket 5c is coming down even more.

The move appears to come in response to rival Best Buy (BBY), which on Thursday announced that it was taking the price of the phone down to $50.

In a statement, Walmart spokesperson Sarah McKinney said that "providing our customers low prices on the newest technology is what we do." She did, however, acknowledge Best Buy's own price cut, and said that "As a price leader, we are always looking for ways to surprise our customers with low prices and disrupt the competition."

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%Besides beating Best Buy's price by $5, Walmart has another advantage: Its pricing is good at least through the end of the holiday season, while Best Buy's pricing is only good through Oct. 7. Walmart also has an active trade-in program that lets you apply the value of your old phone to your purchase.

Walmart isn't the only retailer responding to Best Buy's big price cut: RadioShack (RSH) also announced Friday that it will discount the phone to $50, a price that will be good through Nov. 2. Still, with so many retailers suddenly discounting the 5c, we wouldn't be surprised if it became the standard pricing for the phone going forward.

Regardless, one thing is clear: For now, the Apple Store is not the best place to buy this iPhone.

Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.