Do Apple have a strangle hold on suppliers?

[Arachno 1D]

Apple's secret deals with mobile operators are squeezing smaller companies out of the market and driving up costs even for those who don't use their products, according to Register sources across the industry.

"In my opinion Apple are in a grey area," one legal expert with first hand experience of the contracts told us.

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Apple does not give the operator a choice of refunds or returns.

"You simply have to buy them," a source familiar with operator deals told us. If an operator doesn't make the sales target then they must swallow the difference.

And the sums are staggering. Hints surfaced this summer, when industry analyst Craig Moffett warned Verizon investors of liabilities arising from the company failing to fulfill its purchase commitment with Apple. Moffett estimated that Verizon had committed to $23 billion worth of iPhone purchases, but had fallen short on sales, by around $12bn to $14bn.

 

 

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Source

[Growled Member]

I think Apple has gotten to the point where they need to be investigated by the Department of Justice, but they never will because they have powerful friends in Washington.

[ctebah]

Capitalism at it's best.  Best quote of the article:

 

While the Apple deals are unique, industry sources say, Samsung has attempted to copy some aspects.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

Y'know... If the Telco's all got together and cooperated, they could bring Apple to their knees fairly easily and either force more lucrative deals, or dump the rotten fruit completely and go with more profitable devices.

 

Never happen though. They're all too afraid one of them will partake of backroom dealing and be the only one carrying the next iPhone.

[chrisj1968]

If Apple disappeared, I wouldn't worry one bit.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

FIrstly the Telco's are not Apple's suppliers.  They are agents or customers depending on how you look at it.

 

Also, it is good business practice to have a strangle hold over the parties you deal with.  Just shows that the parties they deal with don't have much leverage over them.

[Gary2MBz]

FIrstly the Telco's are not Apple's suppliers.  They are agents or customers depending on how you look at it.

 

Also, it is good business practice to have a strangle hold over the parties you deal with.  Just shows that the parties they deal with don't have much leverage over them.

This.

 

I doubt anybody would have difficulty selling any of Apple's devices seeing as how they are beyond well demand along the Samsung Galaxy.

[Brian M. Veteran]

Y'know... If the Telco's all got together and cooperated, they could bring Apple to their knees fairly easily and either force more lucrative deals, or dump the rotten fruit completely and go with more profitable devices.

 

Never happen though. They're all too afraid one of them will partake of backroom dealing and be the only one carrying the next iPhone.

It really doesn't make business sense to drop what is probably their best selling device.

I'm sure Apple wouldn't care if Verizon, AT&T etc dropped the iPhone from their lineup. They will still sell the same number of phones (the fact that there's still a 2 week wait for some models (here in the UK at least) months after launch says it all.

[DeadEndAccount]

I think Apple has gotten to the point where they need to be investigated by the Department of Justice, but they never will because they have powerful friends in Washington.

 

Oh for Christ sake cut the crap - distributors in my country have the same requirements; want to become a reseller for them then you're bound to buy $x of product off them per month or lose your ability to use them as a supplier. Honestly, I wish some fanboys here would actually get a clue on how the real world operates instead of jumping on every Apple hating bandwagon.