Channel Conflict For Apple
from the tricky-strategy dept
When Apple set up their own retail stores they vowed to avoid any sort of channel conflict by making sure that their own stores received no preferential treatment. It doesn't seem to have worked out that way. With the current shortage of iMac flat panel screens, many Apple dealers are complaining that the Apple stores are getting a disproportionate number of available iMacs, while they're stuck with a long waiting list. This sort of thing is pretty much inevitable when you have both a direct and an indirect sales channel. It will be interesting to see how Apple deals with it going forward.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
