• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 3, 2011

  With the launch of the iPad 2 yesterday, Apple is set to build on its big lead over competitors in the tablet category. With nearly 15 million original iPads sold last year, the company is estimated to own nearly 90% of the market. But the tablet still can't be considered a mainstream device -- not with roughly 300 million mobile users in the U.S. alone.

To help push the second-generation iPad into the mass market, it looks like Apple may go well beyond its own upscale stores to broaden the device's appeal. Reports around the Web today suggest the iPad 2 will roll out across a number of big box stores, starting with launch retail partner Best Buy. The consumer electronics giant will begin selling the new Applet tablet when it hits stores March 11. Best Buy already touts the new version's imminent arrival on its site.

Best Buy also sold the original iPad at launch, but AppleInsider and other tech blogs are reporting that Wal-Mart will also carry the iPad 2, though the company hasn't confirmed when it will be available. Wal-Mart began selling the iPad last October -- six months after rollout -- so for Apple to bring the nation's largest retailer on board earlier with the latest version would obviously help give sales a boost.

Best Buy and Wal-Mart could be joined by retail outlets nationwide, including the stores of carrier partners Verizon Wireless and AT&T, as well as Target. Sure, Apple will be battling a legion of new tablets from HTC, Samsung, HP and Dell for shelf space in these retail environments, but it will still enjoy the advantage of being the only brand so far clearly identified with the space.

In a blog post earlier this year, NPD analyst Stephen Baker suggested Apple should offer the iPad 2 even more widely, from tech reseller sites to office and home furnishing chains. "Apple's distribution clearly needs to expand into more regional CE outlets and test more alternative distribution opportunities like department and home stores, such as Kohl's or Bed Bath and Beyond," he wrote. Can you picture it right next to the food processors and toasters?

For now, Apple's reach for a wider audience with the iPad 2 doesn't involve a price cut. The entry price will remain at $499 for the WiFi-only version. (Although the original model will fall to $399, according to BGR.)

Apple executives have spoken of $199 as a "magic" price point for bringing hand-held devices to the masses. Since the iPad lies somewhere between a phone and a laptop, it's not clear if the Apple tablet will ever drop to that level, but it's likely to go lower over time, as the the iPhone and iPod did. Still, there's definitely an opening for the iPad's myriad tablet competitors to steal a march on breaking into the mainstream.