According to an arguably authentic-looking leaked memo procured "from a source within Walmart," the oft-rumored Walmart iPhone is a done deal, scheduled to appear on December 28th in a big box near you.

Or maybe there will be. Apple could simply be pulling our chains by not letting Walmart's oh-so-trustworthy sales associates in on the $99 secret until the very last minute. Maybe. Possibly.

After all, if the rumors and memo are authentic, they prove that Walmart leaks secrets like a sieve. And with the holiday shopping season in full swing, the last thing Apple wants is to have potential customers adopt a "wait and see" approach, hoping to save a hundred bucks later this month.

If fact - and here comes the tinfoil-hat part - maybe the leaked memo is actually a clever ploy by Apple to quash the $99 iPhone rumors, thus inducing more pre-Christmas sales (okay: and pre-Hannukah, pre-Kwanza, and pre-Festivus sales) of the higher-margin 8GB and 16GB iPhones.

The truth is out there...and it's apparently coming to Walmart at 9:00 a.m. on December 28th. ®

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