IPad Headed to Target in October

Add Target to the list of retailers peddling Apple’s iPad. The discount chain said this morning that it will begin selling all six models of the device next month.

An agressive move for Apple (AAPL) as we head toward the holiday buying season, and a shot across Amazon’s bow as well. The online retailer brought the Kindle to Target (TGT) a few months ago, making it the device’s first brick-and-mortar outlet. Amazon’s decision to give up Kindle sales exclusivity was an obvious move to protect the device’s market share from formidable new rivals like the iPad by broadening its distribution through the nation’s second-largest retailer. With Apple’s tablet now headed to Target as well, any advantage Amazon (AMZN) enjoyed as a result of that deal will likely be tempered, though the Kindle’s new $139 to $189 pricing may go over better with Target shoppers than the iPad’s $499 to $829 pricing.