Japanese Apple resellers halt Web sales, China iPhone price cut planned

Online electronics discount stores in Japan have reportedly been asked by Apple to cease sales of iPods, Macs and other products. Also, China Unicom may cut the price of the iPhone by 1,000 yuan, or nearly $150, in an effort to boost sales.

Japanese resellers halt sale of Apple products

According to a new report from Nikkei, most online electronics stores in Japan have halted sales of iPods, iMacs and more. The companies have reportedly stopped sales at the request of Apple, which is said to be unhappy about the products being sold online at a discounted price.

One store, Yodobashi Camera Co., posted a note on its website to state it stopped selling Apple products at the request of the Cupertino, Calif., company. The retailer, which has 20 brick-and-mortar locations in Japan, said it is still selling Apple products at its stores for customers who shop in-person.

Also cited in the Nikkei report were Yamada Denki Co., Bic Camera Inc., and Kojima Co. All of their Web sites said that Apple products were sold out, not for sale, or only available in a store. However, Amazon.com's Japanese store and Joshin Denki Co. are still offering Apple products.

China Unicom may cut iPhone price

Citing an anonymous source with China Unicom, China Business News reported this week that the carrier may slash the price of the iPhone by 1,000 yuan, or nearly $150. The iPhone debuted last year with a relatively high price of 6,999 yuan.

But after a slow start, sales of the iPhone eventually began to pick up, with more than 100,000 handsets sold by December of 2009.

China Unicom has hoped that the iPhone will help to boost its fledgling 3G network, which debuted alongside Apple's smartphone late last year. This week it was reported that the carrier is also considering reduced rates for subscribers who use 3G devices to further the growth of its high-speed data network.

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16 Comments

bergermeister

said about 13 years ago

I'm surprised the Nikkei paper didn't do more research. There is more to the story than Apple simply being unhappy that some retailers were selling at a discount (which is very hard to do). Such a problem could have been dealt with on a company by company basis. The end of sales was rather sudden (for one shop it was within a month) and the shops have not received clear explanations. Some say that licensing was an issue. Some just scratch their heads because Apple Japan provided no explanation. At least one customer, whose reseller had received a confirmation and shipping order from AJ, had his order suddenly cancelled by Aj and had to go to another shop.

Amazon US regularly sells Apple products for less than the Apple price (Amazon's Japan store has the exact same prices as the Apple store here), so if the reason given in the Nikkei is right, then there is disparity in how Apple works around the world.

Also, the shop where I usually have bought my Macs, they have not once sold a machine at a price lower than I saw on the Apple Store, Japan. The only "discount" they had was the five-year warranty plan they offered for 5%, which was often 60% less than the Apple Care plan offers to cover three years. So, perhaps Apple is unhappy with the lack of sales of Apple Care. They are a consumer electronics company, aren't they?

Apple Japan also seems to have made a few resellers less than happy with the move and the suddenness of it, to the point that if they ever choose to return to selling through resellers they will have a smaller field to choose from.

jragosta

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bergermeister

I suspect that it's unlicensed retailers selling gray market goods. Typically, that is the reason Apple interferes with resellers. They don't make any effort to stop people from discounting, per se.

bergermeister

said about 13 years ago

This was pretty much across the board, though, covering large nationwide chains, with only a few shops still able to sell Apple stuff. If they had a problem with a few resellers, why the blanket reaction? It seems more like an over-reaction that has punished good resellers as well, not to mention hurt customers.

After we discovered what had happened, I will admit that I will think more carefully before purchasing my future Apple products and likely extend the time period between purchases (I usually upgrade every two or three years- both laptops and desktop- but that will now become three to five).

bergermeister

said about 13 years ago

Just realized: it is not just the online stores that have halted sales as is suggested in the article. Major chains have stopped selling Apple products in their brick and mortar stores as well. We are talking about Apple withdrawing from thousands of outlets in Japan.

In the city close to me, there were 10 shops that sold Macs (I've never counted the number selling iPods) that I was aware of. That number has been reduced to just 2.

Some companies, like K's Denki, were asked to remove stock from most of their walk-in stores, but a couple (usually near Tokyo) were allowed to continue selling.

williamg

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

According to a new report from Nikkei, most online electronics stores in Japan have halted sales of iPods, iMacs and more. The companies have reportedly stopped sales at the request of Apple, which is said to be unhappy about the products being sold online at a discounted price.

In the uS, Retail Price Maintenance is illegal. It is anticompetative and immoral.

Do they allow it in Japan?