Later this December, Wal-Mart stores are scheduled to begin selling Apple Incorporated’s iPhones, which are said to be priced at $99.

Citing employees at the stores, San Jose-based Mercury News revealed that the gadgets would be 4-gigabyte models, adding that Wal-Mart was aiming to roll-out the iPhones before Christmas.

Moreover, the retail chain is said to begin marketing the iPhone 3G for $197 for the 8GB version, which is $2 cheaper than in Apple and AT&T stores.

On July 11, Apple’s smartphones were made available for purchase at $199-the 8 gigabytes of storage model-and at $299, for the 16-gigabyte version of the device.

On purchasing the iPhones, customers need to sign a contract with the AT&T carrier, which entails a $30 a month fee plan for unlimited Internet access, an extra $5 for 200 text messages or another $20 if they wish to benefit from unlimited texting.

This September, Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs appealed to United States’ largest electronics retailer Best Buy Company to market the smartphones, in an attempt to expand the device’s user base. Until then, the iPhone was sold exclusively by Apple and AT&T, which is the sole provider of wireless service for the phone in the nation.

According to Jobs, the company has sold 10 million iPhones during this year, thus managing to grip 30 percent of the U.S. smartphone market.

The iPhone was first released in June 2007 and in July this year, the iPhone 3G was introduced, for which the company abated the price from $399 to $199 and also began distributing it in 51 countries. Steve Jobs stated that by the end of 2008, the 3G model would be sold in 70 markets.