Apple pricing...

[Gordy]

Having read an short piece on ./ about apples pricing , I decided to do some research into the way it prices stuff. I took three model lines with 3 variations . I then looked at the prices on apple store and 3 other uk dealers. What I found was surprising to me.

If you look there is at the most £9 difference in price. On a high value item such as a 17in powerbook you would expect stores to price agressivly to get more sales.

Quoting from a store owner :

Re:apple fixes the price (Score:5, Informative)
by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08, @06:20PM (#7663668)
The parent got modded up as flamebait, but the statement is in fact true. There IS Apple price fixing for it's authorized resellers.

I work at an Apple Authorized Reseller in Los Angeles, and Apple has made it pretty clear that if we drop the price by more than $50, we aren't going to be an authorized reseller much longer.

Personally, I think it's terrible, because there is quite a profit made on Apple hardware by us, particularly G5 desktop systems, and iPods.

Basically, we could knock a good 74-100$ off the iPod without losing money. And I think if we did such a thing, we'd get a pretty healthy customer base very quickly.

Apple prices

1.6ghz g5 : £1,399.00
1.8ghz g5 : £1,899.00
2.0ghz g5 : £2,299.00

10 gig ipod : £248.99
20 gig ipod : £299.00
40 gig ipod : £398.99

12in combo pb : £1,299.00
15in combo pb : £1,599.00
17in superd pb : £2,399.00

Cancom

1.6ghz g5 : £1,398.25
1.8ghz g5 : £1898.80
2.0ghz g5 : £2290.08

10 gig ipod : £245.58
20 gig ipod : £298.45
40 gig ipod : £398.33

12in combo pb : £1291.33
15in combo pb : N/A
17in superd pb : £2172.58 (Not sure if this is the same model as on apple)

Gordon harwood prices

1.6ghz g5 : £1,397.08
1.8ghz g5 : £1,897.63
2.0ghz g5 : £2,297.13

10 gig ipod : £246.75
20 gig ipod : £298.45
40 gig ipod : £398.33

12in combo pb : £1,298.38
15in combo pb : £1,596.83
17in superd pb : £2,395.83

CWOnline

1.6ghz g5 : £1,397.08
1.8ghz g5 : £1,897.62
2.0ghz g5 : £2,290.07

10 gig ipod : £233.82
20 gig ipod : £292.57
40 gig ipod : £398.32

12in combo pb : £1,291.33
15in combo pb : £1,596.83
17in superd pb : £2,395.82


To me if this is true apple are guilty of price fixing which is anti competitive and illegal in this country.

What you think.

[msaeger]

If they aren't price fixing why else would every store charge the same price.

[Stoo]

Sony do the same, well, did the same (not sure if it's changed, been a while since I was in retail..), if you reduced the prices too much then they enacted their right to rufuse to supply you..

Gordy, do you think contacting the OFT would be of any use?

[Gordy]

I'm just interested in what people think at the moment. Without firm evidence the OFT wouldnt care anyway. I was thinking of popping into the local apple store this week I may ask them what they think.

Note: I'm not accusing apple of price fixing , only reporting what I see (Gordy's lawyer happier now )

[Stoo]

Yeah, but I was wondering what sort of evidence the OFT would need to build a case?

[Gordy]

Originally posted by Stoo
Yeah, but I was wondering what sort of evidence the OFT would need to build a case?

If there was case to answer they would need something that shows apple forced resellers to price each part at a set level.

The recent case with the FA and many clubs /sports shops is a case where this happened.

[Stoo]

So basically you'd need sworn statements from staff of these shops..

[RoganJosh]

This is why Gil Amelio introduced Mac OS Clones back in the early 90s - I had several, which saved £100s at the time and allowed my to have a High-end mac for mid range price. As soon as Steve Jobs came back it was bye bye clones - This situation has been blatantly obvious for decades, yet it still goes on.

[Gordy]

Originally posted by Stoo
So basically you'd need sworn statements from staff of these shops..

Possibly backed up with other evidence

[Stoo]

Ahh, that's where the phone-taps come in

It's a real shame, because a lot of what's holding the mac back is down to the high prices

Think how many iPods they would sell if you could get the 10gig version for under £200, there's currently nothing in that price range that comes even close..

tsk..

hmmm..

http://www.oft.gov.uk/About/Who+to+c...t+division.htm

Would they be a cartel then?

[Gordy]

There is talk of a cheap ipod say 5gig but I've not seen anything more on it.

[Gordy]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=13124

Interesting , maybe the pricing structure is bcos there is very little profit in the machines?

[joshwa]

if you compare the US price to the UK prices £ for £ there's a huge difference - i personally think the prices are fixed (nearly all pc manu's get discounted in sales etc, but apple never do)...

and i also think apple charge UK more for them.

[joshwa]

i did this 26th June 03 but you still get the idea:

apple US store price ($) UK £ (conversion) UK store price (£) difference
g5 1.6 1999 1197 1549 352
g5 1.8 2399 1436 1849 413
g5 2x2 2999 1795 2299 504
ibook 12.1 800 g3 cd 999 598 799 201
ibook 12.1 900 g3 combo 1299 777 1049 272
ibook 14.1 900g3 combo 1499 897 1199 302
eMac 800 G4 cd 799 478 649 171
eMac 1000 G4 combo 999 598 799 201
eMac 1000 G4 super 1299 777 999 222
iMac 15" 800 G4 combo 1299 777 999 222
iMac 17" 1000 G4 super 1799 1076 1449 373
G4 1250 combo 1299 777 999 222
g4 2x1250 combo 1599 957 1239 282

If Apple did sell a sub £500 mac, they'd shift a load more computers here in the UK!

[joshwa]

"Price difference between Dell USA & Dell EMEA - ca. 0%, Apple USA & Apple Europe - ca. +33%! Maybe it is time to switch!!"

haven't looked into this, found it on this Apple Pricing petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/EUprices/petition.html

[Aaron]

Sadly, this kind of price fixing isn't illegal.

There's nothing in the law that requires a company to sell their goods to another company. So if someone won't stick to Apple's pricing plan then Apple don't have to sell to them.