Walmart slashes iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus prices

The new Apple iPhone 6 Plus phablet was nowhere to be found among all the blockbuster Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals last month, but Walmart has surprised this week by announcing a deep discount on the smartphones through February.

The retailer is cutting the price for a 16GB edition of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus from $279 to $229, with a contract from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. Walmart's Sam's Club is cutting the price from $277 to $227.

MORE:Best iPhone 7 Design Concepts So Far

The iPhone 6 lists for $299 on the Apple site.

(We're guessing United Airlines got a way better deal than either store is offering, by the way, since it announced this week that it is equipping some 23,000 flight attendants with the devices.)

The iPhone 6 Plus captured 41% of the U.S. phablet market in the three months ending in October, even though the device had only been available since mid-September, according to market watcher Kantar WorldPanel. Kantar says phablets (5.5-inch screens or larger) accounted for 10% of overall smartphone sales.

Walmart is also axing prices for other Apple smartphones, with the 16GB version of the iPhone 5S going for $49 and the iPhone 6 for $129, which is $50 off (alas, better deals could have been had on Black Friday, because Walmart was tossing in $75 gift card, too). The retailer isn't playing favorites either: The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been discounted to $79 from $139.

Phone trade-ins for gift cards are also available, to sweeten the deals.