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Greys Singing the Blues (8/4/98)
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Apparently Apple wasn't kidding when it declared war on grey market resellers a short time ago. In a recent news update, SoftClub revealed that, as of August 15th, it will no longer be selling new Apple equipment. The reason? Pressure from Apple's lawyers forced SoftClub to reshape its business strategy, as it "cannot afford to engage Apple in legal matters." Therefore, SoftClub will continue to sell refurbished and discontinued models, but in a couple of weeks, new systems will be a no-no.
We aren't at all familiar with SoftClub or the people who run it, but it is a self-described "small, family-owned business," which certainly implies that it's not the kind of company that can spend thousands on legal fees to resolve an actual lawsuit. That's precisely the kind of company with which big, corporate legal muscle is most effective as a threatening tool. It certainly appears that Apple is getting what it wants with respect to restricting the sale of new Macs and other equipment to "authorized resellers" only.
We at AtAT fully understand Apple's attempts to ensure that equipment be sold through the right channels, but we're a little concerned about the overall consequences of declaring open season on the grey marketers. In the short term, Apple maximizes its own profits from the sale of new systems while making sure that the customer buying experience is acceptable. But what are the long-term effects of such a campaign? SoftClub derived most of its revenue by selling new Apple systems, and now they are forced to consider selling "inferior" Wintel products in order to make up for the income loss. We don't pretend to know why SoftClub isn't an actual authorized reseller, but regardless, it sounds a bit edgy when a vendor who likes Macs is basically forced to sell Wintels instead. Hopefully when Apple gets a bit stronger, it won't be so difficult for people to sell new Apple equipment.
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SceneLink (908)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/4/98 episode: August 4, 1998: What dark and mysterious forces have conspired to "persuade" the New York Times to halt the serialization of a new novel based loosely on Apple Computer? Meanwhile, grey marketers are feeling the hurt, as Apple cracks down with hefty legal muscle, and Apple expatriates who emigrated to Netscape may have been contaminated with the dreaded "we don't need marketing" virus...
Other scenes from that episode: 907: Stop the Presses (8/4/98) Hmmm, what's this? It seems that the New York Times has gotten cold feet about letting its online counterpart serialize a novel. According to a ZDNet article, the reasons given are pretty much what you'd expect from the intentionally-stodgy and tradition-focused NYT: The deal's not dead yet, but it's definitely on hold, as the NYT rethinks the consequences of letting its web edition stray further and further from the mold set forth by its long-standing print edition... 909: Contagious Appleitis (8/4/98) Yeek, just as Apple seems to be getting its own act together by correcting lots of long-standing corporate problems, an article in the San Jose Mercury News reveals that those problems may simply have migrated to Netscape, instead...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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