Apple cuts resellers out of G4 Cube sales
In a bid to increase direct sales, Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, announced last week that the company's high-end G4 Cube with 500Mhz processor will be sold exclusively through its online Apple Store.
In a bid to increase direct sales, Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, announced last week that the company's high-end G4 Cube with 500Mhz processor will be sold exclusively through its online Apple Store, as will the new optical mouse and redesigned keyboard.
The other new products announced at MacWorld last week, the dual-chip powered PowerMacs and updated iMacs with new colours and additional features, will be sold through the channel.
Mike Robertson, account manager at Apple reseller Trams, criticised the move, saying Apple had a poor track record in delivering products through the Apple Store site.
He said: "If Apple is thinking of supplying its sales direct, it's going to lose sales."
David Millar, PR manager at Apple, said he suspected the decision was taken because the Cube is a completely new product and the mouse and keyboard are low-end, low-margin products. He was unsure whether the products will be eventually sold through the channel.
Millar said Apple is confident of meeting demand thanks to improved inventory management, but problems could arise if the products proved more popular than had been expected.
- Profit down
- Apple has posted profit of $200m (£133m) on turnover of $1.8bn for the third quarter ended 1 July, compared with profit of $203m on turnover of $1.6bn for Q3 last year. The vendor blamed the drop in profit to smaller gains from investments compared with a year ago.