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Apple Found Guilty of Russian Price-Fixing (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a BBC report: Russia's competition watchdog has found that Apple fixed the prices of certain iPhone models sold in the country. The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (Fas) said that Apple's local subsidiary told 16 retailers to maintain the recommended prices of phones in the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 families. Non-compliance with the pricing guidelines may have led to the termination of contracts, it found. At the time of the investigation, Apple denied that it controlled its products' pricing, telling Reuters that resellers "set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world." The regulator said Apple had now ended its price-fixing practices but has not said whether the company faces a fine. The FAS claimed that Apple Rus monitored the retail prices for the iPhone 5c, 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus.
I wondered why my Russians were so expensive!
Just stop selling them to Russia directly. Let the black market price gouging show them what price manipulation REALLY looks like.
Why even have 3rd party dealers / distributions? Or is it that you to have full price control but don't want the risk of sitting on unsold items no the 3rd party dealers / distributions with min order numbers are the ones who take that risk.
No, they were found guilty of not paying their, wink, "tax", so officials used the antitrust laws not for the purpose apoplectic big business haters espouse, but for their real purpose: to harm businesses that don't play the game.
This cynicism born from reality.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
coming from the country that owns fucking Gazprom
Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
Why even have 3rd party dealers / distributions?
Because it is not economically feasible to build an Apple Store in every town and village. Selling on-line doesn't work so well in countries where packages are routinely stolen.
Funniest idea I've heard this week- the Russian Justice System.
Past winners: Somali Space Program. Quiet Dish Washer. Vatican Moonshot Effort. President Donald Trump. Successful, Honest Democratic Politician. Cat Shit Coffee.
Cmon, editors, you need to think about these stories before you blindly post them with stupid, uninformed headlines.
Apple dictating to its retailers what prices to offer for their own manufactured phones is not "price fixing". Price fixing in the traditional sense is when competitors in a market collude to artificially set the price of a good that they otherwise should be competing on, which deprives the free market of alternatives.
This is a case of Apple setting its own product's pricing. And something is being lost from the Russian story and what they mean by things like Recommended Retail Price / MSRP, but this is not "price fixing". Please use some judgment before using inflammatory / inflated headlines.
Apple Fined $670,000 In Taiwan For Price Fixing in 2013
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Yo Bill, it was good weather today. Do you do business with Russians?
Is that a branch of the Federal Oligarchy Enforcement Service?
A significant portion of consumer sales still go through walk-in-retail channels, and with the phones they have the added issue that many people buy the phone as part of a contract. Apple doesn't want to become a mobile network operator all around the world, so they are going to have to partner with local dealers. I imagine this is even more of an issue in Russia where you probably need some local connections to keep things moving along.
As for the retail pricing control thing, that is rather interesting. I used to sell an electronics product through retailers. Every single retailer always bugged me about needing a bigger margin, but if I ever gave one to them, they would immediately started discounting so they could undercut their competitors. This would cause all the other retailers to get really annoyed and demand that I stop the rogue retailer from discounting (even though they know I'm not legally allowed too). In the end everyone just got totally screwed over by their own competition on margin, which allowed me to gradually raise prices and pocket more of the sale price myself. Apart from that last bit (my product decimated the competition, so I didn't really have that much pricing pressure myself), that is sort of how the retail marketplace is meant to work.
I must admit though, there were times when I would 'suggest' that a retailer shouldn't get carried away with long term discounting to avoid the constant harassment of other retailers. In the end most retailers are just sales people with low to medium levels of business acumen, and many of them cannot see the bigger picture of the system they are in. A big part of your job as the manufacturer is to manage perceptions so they feel happy and enthusiastic, and some times this involves playing a few games and managing the different egos as best you can. I would have thought at the level Apple operates though, they would be much more meticulous about not getting caught out in such an obvious way.
So how exactly does this stealing of packages on-line work?
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Ask Russian Post, to a lesser extent customs office and Russian DHL.
I think Apple and Russia could make a deal. Apple will stop their price fixing if Russia agrees to stop trying to fix elections in the U.S.A and Western Europe.
Are you daft? How do you think the phones get to the people who've bought them?
Actually, the exact opposite happened in 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06...
The Supreme Court STRUCK DOWN an antitrust rule AGAINST minimum retail prices.
Well when I order them they get delivered to my home or office. I haven't yet seen a way to reach into my monitor and pull the item from "on-line". Just curious how someone could steal my stuff on-line before it gets to me. DUH!
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Why can't more places sell direct and not use not so independent dealers that are controlled by the manufacturer.
Russia wants apple open factory there with local workers.
I remember when Russia was guilty of price-fixing apples.
So if I am the sole manufacturer of a certain product and I set my price at $10, I'm price fixing? If people don't want to pay $10 for my product they'll go elsewhere and buy competing, different products. Price fixing distorts the market, but I don't see that happening here. Not allowing retailers to sell for profits below or beyond what Apple dictates is not illegal either. It's all done on a contractual basis between Apple who supplies the product and the retailers who sell it (essentially for hire).
Well when I order them they get delivered to my home or office. I haven't yet seen a way to reach into my monitor and pull the item from "on-line". Just curious how someone could steal my stuff on-line before it gets to me. DUH!
Why would somebody believe "Selling on-line" means ' reach into my monitor and pull the item from "on-line".'?
Unless they are a Russian troll?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Can anybody else find a new (not used or refurbed) iPhone of the current or last generation for less than Apple's standard price?