[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Sony allows discounts.

Apparently now. I was going by this 2008 Wall Street Journal article:

On Dec. 1, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sony Corp.'s SNE -0.47% U.S. unit, sent out a notice to its regional and district managers listing minimum-advertised prices for nearly two dozen products, according to a copy of the document.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Apple, on the other hand, practices a different strategy that isn't classic price maintenance.

My source is The Everything Store. According to the book, the reason Amazon does not sell most Apple products (except through third party sellers) is that Apple forbids most deep discounting.

There's a reason why you don't hear about such vertical price fixing much, and it is explained in my Wall Street Journal link:

Manufacturers often don't like retailers to discuss their pricing agreements publicly. A 2008 MAP agreement from electronic learning-aids manufacturer LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. LF +0.40% states, "This policy is considered confidential and should be respected as such relative to conversations with LeapFrog competitors."

It would be interesting to see what stores have to sign to stock the current model WiFi Paperwhite, a product that doesn't seem to be discounted by even 20 percent.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Their [Apple] price maintenance is predicated on a good-better-best upsell retailing model where they promote the entry level and try to get buyers to stretch their budget for the next higher version.

That's not Apple's price maintenance policy. It's just charging different prices for different products.

A vast middle ground toolkit of sophisticated moves is available to both vendors and retailers savvy enough to exploit them.

You can call it a toolkit, but if it limits discounts, I'd still call it a minimum price requirement AKA vertical price fixing. If Hachette agree to allow eBook discounts up to 20 percent off a set list price, would you say that agency pricing is gone? I wouldn't.