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jiqiren · 2022-05-27 14:51:51

Huh? I can buy Apple products at Best Buy, Costco, Target, Walmart, AT&T, T-mobile, Verizon, Kohl's, etc etc.

There are plenty of retail outlets that are more than happy to sell Apple products while Apple also sells...

greggman | karma 6858 | avg karma 3.32 · | 2018-07-08 09:10:06+00:00

Apple sells on Amazon, Best Buy, Verison stores, T-Mobile stores etc... lots of places.

_bxg1 | karma 112 | avg karma 0.03 · | 2019-02-22 14:48:59

Doesn't Apple maintain control over what stores can sell their devices? I guess people can still go to cell-provider stores and Best Buy, but.

prof_hobart | karma 1031 | avg karma 1.77 · | 2013-10-29 07:34:18

There's plenty of places besides Apple that you can buy Apple products from.

smabie | karma 4907 | avg karma 1.76 · | 2020-06-26 17:35:03

You can buy Apple products from other places too, though.

psykovsky | karma 625 | avg karma 0.92 · | 2014-09-03 12:01:27+00:00

And yet you can still buy Apple stuff at any major retailer or high street store. The retail lobby doesn't seem to mind much.

gambiting | karma 29451 | avg karma 3.2 · | 2019-02-11 07:17:30

Those brands have this own stores at all? I've never seen one. I've seen many Apple stores though.

rsynnott | karma 18312 | avg karma 2.1 · | 2018-07-24 17:06:44

And even Apple does sell through retailers.

alasdair_ | karma 10718 | avg karma 4.06 · | 2021-09-13 18:25:04

How is that any different from Apple selling the iPhone in their own stores versus a third party store? Or literally any other consumer good?

jedberg | karma 72921 | avg karma 5.98 · | 2019-05-29 16:45:52+00:00

But in retail I can choose a different store. For Apple, there is exactly one store.

rpdillon | karma 2791 | avg karma 3.57 · | 2023-09-19 18:05:27

Indeed, but that's why you can buy those items at different stores. With Apple, not so much.

ajsnigrutin | karma 11590 | avg karma 3.63 · | 2024-01-05 15:05:08

Why should they be obligated to stock them? Grandmas that live in cities with walmarts and no apple stores will just buy a samsung or whatever is available in the store.

A better question is, why aren't iphones cheaper at apple stores?

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dean | karma 2194 | avg karma 4.0 · | 2011-11-22 04:06:14+00:00

"how do you explain the fact that people flock to the stores to buy Apple products at full price when Wal-Mart, Best-Buy, and Target carry most of them, often discounted in various ways"

A little off topic, but I have to say that I have never seen a new, latest release model of any Apple product on sale at any of these stores. Not Wal-Mart, not Target, not even Costco and certainly not Best Buy. Apple products just don't go on sale, so the Apple store is not competing against discounts at other stores.

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ajross | karma 32824 | avg karma 3.42 · | 2013-03-04 11:52:39

Apple products are sold at lots of retail outlets; the Apple Store retail locations aren't exclusive vendors. It's true they have far more control over pricing and product presentation than JC Penney, but it's not total.

awad | karma 1148 | avg karma 2.58 · | 2013-01-08 21:02:35+00:00

There is an Apple store

evilduck | karma 4246 | avg karma 2.91 · | 2012-08-17 10:58:13

I hate buying anything at Apple stores. Maybe it works for some demographic besides me, but I find it to be more work to actually purchase an item there than in any other store.

saraid216 | karma 6617 | avg karma 1.54 · | 2013-03-04 17:25:38

I wonder how many people actually know that, though. No one I know talks about going anywhere except an Apple Store to service an Apple product, and no one I know seems to consider going to another store to buy an Apple product.

hga | karma 12801 | avg karma 1.47 · | 2015-07-27 12:33:24+00:00

Echoing other replies, while I seldom stop by my local Best Buy, the Wal-Mart I shop at has been selling iOS and iPod devices for a long time. Which makes sense because we have plenty of people out of 200K+ in our area interested in buying such, but who are unlikely to drive ~115 miles/1 hour and 44 minutes for the privilege of doing so in the nearest Apple store. Heck, in my home state of Missouri, the only Apple stores are in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.

macrael | karma 4534 | avg karma 6.66 · | 2012-05-05 01:08:34+00:00

For what it's worth, the "different retail chain" isn't as different as you might think. Apple only sells 15% of all iPhones in the US directly. Most of them are bought through cell providers and Best Buy.

http://allthingsd.com/20120323/best-buy-is-selling-nearly-as...

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abfan1127 | karma 1259 | avg karma 1.92 · | 2021-09-13 22:11:23

Best Buy sells Apple Products. Apple has Apple stores. Best Buy took the same risks. I don't see the logic.