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.
