Quote:
Originally Posted by radleyp
Please accept that this is only speculation, as I have never worked with Apple. My suspicion is that, like other companies that seek to impose standards, it takes the position that to preserve its carefully honed image of quality, it sells only to particular stores that agree to Apple conditions on product display and placement, and that that image can be preserved only if prices are maintained. It will never state publicly that price point is a condition but it will make clear that unless the retailer in question accepts the same quality maintenance conditions as every other store, Apple will stop selling to it. OTOH, this is possible only because there is (for the moment) great demand for Apple products. Should that demand lessen, prices will come down.
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So Apple effectively
is enforcing a retail price at which vendors must sell. They simply aren't explicitly
saying price is a factor. But I'm willing to bet that price is the first thing they look at if they do a vendor audit to make sure the vendor is in compliance with their standards, and if the vendor is discounting, they'll find an excuse for dropping them that doesn't mention price cutting.
Granted, it works because of high demand, but I don't see that slackening any time soon.
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Dennis