At the request from Apple - Japanese online stores stop shipping Apple products

[Stella]

In a strange move, Apple have requested that Japanese online stores stop shipping Apple products. Consumers can still pick up their good, however.

Seems extremely strange, or the facts of the story are just plain incorrect.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?olo=rss&NewsID=3221753

 

[xlii]

Makes no sense. Like any other online store don't they buy their stuff from Apple in volume at a volume discount and then sell it to us at a markup?

Unless, some of the Japanese stores are buying either directly from China or selling Chinese counterfeits of Apple products.

 

[*LTD*]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ja...f-apple-goods-2010-04-27?reflink=MW_news_stmp

By MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Most Japanese consumer electronics discount stores have halted online sales of iPods, iMacs and other Apple Inc. products, with some indicating they have done so at the U.S. firm's behest, according to a report Tuesday.

Industry watchers believe that the Japanese unit of Apple (AAPL 267.84, -1.66, -0.62%) has cut out some sales channels because it was unhappy about online stores selling its products at a discount, the Nikkei business daily reported.

 

[djellison]

Is that not essentially price fixing and/or anti competitive behaviour?

 

[jpyc7]

Is that not essentially price fixing and/or anti competitive behaviour?

Maybe so, but it might not be illegal either. In the US, there have been lawsuits related to "minimum advertised price" (MAP) contract provisions where a manufacturer will not let a retailer advertise their product below the MAP. I believe one of those lawsuits recently went to the US Supreme court. I'm not sure exactly which legal concepts were in conflict.

At least in US, basically the contract could prohibit the advertised price from being too low, but could not specify the minimum price (thus no price fixing).

I could see a single company being allowed to set its own minimum price as it is not as plainly anti-competitive as multiple companies doing price fixing. There's no reason that all countries have the same limits on anti-competitive behavior.