Office Depot has been selected by Apple to become the newest member of its Authorized Reseller program, according to numerous reports. The news was confirmed by Office Depot officials earlier this afternoon.
"We are proud to be an Authorized Reseller of Apple products," reads a new statement on the office chain's website. "You can take advantage of one stop shopping for all your office supply needs and now for all your Apple technology needs in one convenient location."
OfficeDepot.com features the full range of Apple products including PowerBooks, Power Macs, iBooks, iMacs, iPods, XServes, displays and accessories.
The partnership between Apple and Office Depot is freshly inked, and currently Apple products are only available from Office Depot's online store. However, Office Depot officials confirmed that Apple products would begin appearing at its retail stores in the coming months.
Last year Apple signed a reseller agreement with Best Buy, aimed at marketing select Macintosh products in about 50 Best Buy stores. The pilot program was designed to allow Apple to evaluate its plans to possibly expand the sale of Apple computers to Best Buy stores nationwide.
Last month, sources said that Best Buy and Apple officially terminated the pilot program and that no further plans between the two companies were in the pipeline. Some of Best Buy's remaining inventory of Apple products were recently spotted in the office chain's clearance sales.
Update: Office Depot officials handling media requests have now denied that the chain will stock Apple computers in its retail stores, but says that plans could change. Earlier in a the week, an Office Depot official implied that Apple hardware would begin appearing in its stores within months.