Apple is looking to expand their relationship with mass discount retailers, the Company that already has a close relationship with Big W in Australia has rolled out a new program with Target in the USA that could be rolled out locally.

Target has announced that they have “deepened its relationship with Apple” by tripling the number of Apple-in-Target stores to 150 they are also offering Apple-related incentives to members of their Target Circle membership program.

This is a similar program to what Best Buy has been running in their store network.

Target Circle members are eligible for a four-month free trial of Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and iCloud+. And those with a Target RedCard can get 5 percent off all Apple purchases and free shipping on orders of $35 or more on target.com and the Target app.

“For years, Target has been a destination for Apple products. Now we are excited to deepen our collaboration with Apple so even more guests can access the exceptional Apple at Target shop-in-shop experience. Through Target Circle, our popular free-to-join loyalty program, we’re also giving our guests the opportunity to try services like Apple Fitness+ for free, and with no purchase required,” Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of Target, said in the announcement.

“Guests love the branded and immersive retail experiences we’re creating with Apple and other partners with this Apple expansion, we’re giving guests even more reasons to choose Target for all their shopping and tech service needs.”

In the second quarter of this year, Target reported a 90 percent drop in quarterly profit from the year before, as it dropped prices in order to sell unwanted inventory. The performance fell well short of analyst expectations, CNBC said. Target typically announces third-quarter earnings in November.

Last week Apple announced their fiscal fourth-quarter results

The US Company came up short versus revenue expectations in core product categories including the company’s iPhone business and services.

Apple shares rose over 1% in extended trading.

Here is how Apple did versus Refinitiv consensus estimates:

EPS $1.29 vs. $1.27 est.

Revenue. $90.15 billion vs. $88.90 billion estimated, up 8.1% year-over-year

iPhone revenue: $42.63 billion vs. $43.21 billion estimated, up 9.67% year-over-year

Mac revenue: $11.51 billion vs. $9.36 billion estimated, up 25.39% year-over-year

iPad revenue: $7.17 billion vs. $7.94 billion estimated, down 13.06% year-over-year
Other Products revenue: $9.65 billion vs. $9.17 billion estimated, up 9.85% year-over-year

Services revenue: $19.19 billion vs. $20.10 billion estimated, up 4.98% year-over-year

Gross margin: 42.3% vs. 42.1% estimated

Apple did not provide official guidance for its first fiscal quarter, which ends in December and contains Apple’s biggest sales season of the year. It hasn’t provided guidance since 2020, citing uncertainty.