Experiment failed: Wal-Mart to stop selling Linux computers through retail

As it turns out, trying to sell Linux pre-loaded computers from brick-and-mortal stores may not be as lucrative as selling them through online retail. So what does one need to do in this case? Quit restocking the stores with computers – and that’s exactly what Wal-Mart did. This and more in the full article.

Realizing that selling Linux-based computers via brick-and-mortar stores just isn’t as effective as distributing them through online sales, retail giant Wal-Mart has pulled out stocks of Everest’s Green gPC, powered by open-source operating system Linux. “This really wasn’t what our customers were looking for,” said Wal-Mart’s spokesperson Melissa O’Brien. Wal-Mart had decided to stock their stores with the Linux computers as a test whether or not the computers will take off.

As a failed experiment, US$ 199 Green gPC just weren’t flying off the retail shelves as much as it did when it was sold online. As Wal-Mart’s first attempt to sell them from retail shelves – Wal-Mart stocked about 600 stores with the Linux-preloaded computers – the Everest gPCs didn’t take off as well as computers pre-loaded with Windows. The in-store gPC inventory wasn’t restocked.

Computers with Linux operating systems are actually a popular choice for server computers, though the operating system is yet to fully break into the home computer market currently being dominated by computers pre-loaded with Microsoft and Apple OS.