back to article Apple accused of starving French reseller of hot stock

Apple squeezed supplies to a top reseller and used its own retail stores to gain an unfair competitive advantage, claims a French shop chain that is taking Apple to court in Paris. eBizcuss, the largest reseller in France, said that Apple favoured its own stores over theirs when it shipped out new and hotly demanded trendy …

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  1. TheOtherJola
    Facepalm

    ATTENTION!! APPLE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE ELSE!!

    When will people stop thinking that Apple (like many other BigCo's) don't give two hoots about other companies and are only put on this earth for two things:

    1. To make as much money for themselves as possible

    2. To make as much money for themselves as possible

    Strictly speaking that was one thing, but I felt it was so important I should iterate it twice.

    Companies like creating profit, especially margin-hungry Apple who have already had a history of shitting on distributors and resellers (http://goodbadstrategy.com/wp-content/downloads/GoodStrategyBadStrategy_Preview.pdf - search for "distributors"). If you don't like the way the company behaves, STOP PROPPING UP THEIR BOTTOM LINE AND VOTE WITH YOUR FEET.

    If enough distributors/resellers stop putting up with being shit on Apple's jesusPhone will become harder to get hold of and the popularity of the handset will plummet in competition with its easier-to-come-by rivals (WP7 and Android).

    ffs. eBizcuss - put up or shut up. If you can't stand the heat, get out the kitchen.

    1. nexsphil

      It's the ILLEGALITY of the actions, not just the immorality that people take issue with. I realise that many people today pay no regard to morality, but unfortunately, no matter how big a scumbag you are the LAW still applies, thankfully.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Haters will hate

        This is a contract dispute between two companies but since one of them is Apple the haters come out of the woodwork and pre judge based on pr spin.

        1. nexsphil

          This identical to saying 'this rape charge is a criminal dispute between the plaintiff and defendant, haters etc etc'. It very deliberately and completely misses the point. "Apple haters" have more than one or two reasons to feel the way they do if you follow the tech news. In fact, Apple's delightful shenanigans are pretty much a weekly press event.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Quelle surprise!

    That is all.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And the moral for all Apple re-sellers is:

    When you get into bed with Apple don't be surprised if you get fucked.

    1. Eponymous Cowherd

      and usually......

      in an alternate orifice.

  4. ratfox

    Is this illegal?

    Genuinely, I don't know the answer.

    Apart from that, well, it's Apple. What did they expect?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I would imagine they would expect that Apple are treated in the same way that Microsoft were when it was seen as having a monopoly.

      The fact is that people want Apple products and apple have licensed the sales rights to 3rd party resellers and have then decided to cater for their own retail stores better than those 3rd parties, to paraphrase a great line from a great movie they are fucking the 3rd party stores in the arse and don't even have the god damn common courtesy to give them a reach around.

    2. Robert E A Harvey

      it may or may not be illegal, but I would have thought a reseller would have a decent supply agreement with terms and conditions enforceable in a civil case.

      If they can't sue, they should fire their lawyers.

  5. jai

    30% loss

    Surely missing out of the iPad2 and iPhone4S frenzy shouldn't have accounted for a 30% loss of their earnings. If so, then they should be thinking about broadening their product range to be less focused on one supplier.

    1. James O'Brien
      Joke

      @30% loss

      Maybe they had a similar agreement like Apple does with the app store, iTunes and every other thing under their umbrella? No? Forgot only Apple can fleece someone that badly seeing as they invented the term.

    2. g e

      So...

      Try to break even on that new POS system. Do a deal with Samsung. Drop Apple products. Advertise...

      * serving suggestion *

      We used to sell Apple products. Till we tried Samsung

      etc, etc

  6. Lars Silver badge
    Unhappy

    No surprise

    And the solution, I suppose, is to newer do any business with Apple.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Supply

    I wonder how much apple stuff this company actually sells.

    If for example they order 20 iMacs and take six months to sell them, then they will be further down the pecking order than a company that orders 20 iMacs and sells them in three months.

    That's how it works and not just for apple.

    I think this reseller has other problems. It's tough for a middle man who needs to provide a service not just shift boxes.

    Very one sided article

    1. tonysmith

      one sided?

      but did you actually read it? It clearly states at the start that the company is a "top reseller".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        One sided

        What I mean by that is, that we're only hearing one side of the story. The 'top resellers' side.

    2. lglethal Silver badge
      Facepalm

      It says in the article (and i quote) - "eBizcuss, the largest reseller in France..."

      Someone appears to have failed the reading comprehension test... ;)

    3. Jiminy

      RTFA

      If you read the article it clearly says they are "the largest reseller in France"

      So i think they probably sell more than 20 iMacs in 3 months

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @jiminy

        Apple has 9 stores in a country of 63+ million people, if seems unlikly 9 stores are affecting "the largest reseller in France".

        1. Fab De Marco

          In addition to that....

          I wouldn't call 16 stores across a nation a top reseller. When you think how many Currys/PC World/etc there are in the UK selling electrical Goods.

          It sounds to me like the execs had a blamestorming session and decided that it wasn't their ineptitude that was the result of the 30% loss it was the Apple supply chain. As a previous poster said, if 30% of their sales come from Apple products they should really look at pushing alternatives to their customers, it shouldn't be hard to sell someone a laptop that is a third cheaper than a macbook, Or an all in one PC from acer/sony that is cheaper than an iMac.

          It does surprise me that Apple are undercutting at their stores though. The only real comparisson I can make is the Sony Centre Stores. Everything in there is well over priced!

          Please don't take me as pro Apple, becuase I'm really not. But in this case fair is fair. Sure the supply chain throttling could have had an impact on their business, but 30% seems outlandish to me.

          1. Sean Baggaley 1
            Thumb Up

            This.

            I lived and worked in France for a while in 2009 and had never even heard of "eBizcuss" until now.

            "FNAC", yes. Those are everywhere, (well over 100 stores in France alone), and they certainly don't appear to be complaining. (FNAC is France's closest equivalent to DSG's PC World chain. And, yes, they do sell Apple kit.)

            Perhaps there's a connection between this blame game and eBizcuss' recent acquisition of Belgium's "Mac Line".

            Either way, we're hearing a very one-sided story. Of course Apple are going to prefer their own outlets if there's a supply squeeze: they'd have to be certifiable not to as it'd be a serious PR blunder if their stores were to run out of stock while the rival general consumer goods store across the road turned out to have rather more. Why anyone would even be surprised at this escapes me; it's hardly "immoral" or "unethical". eBiscuss can get equally good rival products in from the likes of HP, RIM, or Asus.

            >cough<

            (Sorry, trying very hard to keep a straight face after typing that last sentence. Give me a moment...)

            Blaming a 30% loss on Apple is ridiculous given that eBizcuss aren't an Apple-only reseller. As for the bizarre accusations that Apple have a "monopoly" by some posters here: seriously, WTF are you people smoking? Apple aren't the only mobile phone, tablet, or PC manufacturer on the planet. And Apple are most emphatically _not_ responsible for their rivals incompetence; if your product line screams "me-too" copycat design, your CEO is not going to be appearing on the front covers of any magazines other than "Which Cheesy Knock-off?"

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @Fab De Marco

            "It does surprise me that Apple are undercutting at their stores though. The only real comparisson I can make is the Sony Centre Stores. Everything in there is well over priced!"

            The Sony Centre stores in the UK *aren't* Sony's own though- they're a network of various independently-owned but officially-licensed resellers of Sony equipment.

            That arguably makes them more akin to Apple's "Premium Resellers" like (e.g.) Stormfront in the UK.

        2. tonysmith

          largest in the apple market

          http://www.tuaw.com/2011/12/30/french-reseller-ebizcuss-sues-apple-over-unfair-competition/

          eBizcuss has 16 stores in France - Apple has 9. That's enough to cause a problem.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Example

        It was an example.... You can tell that where it says 'for example'...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I am sure anyone would have loved to have all their Apple orders fulfilled so they could sell them - the fact was the demand was so high Apple was unable to fulfil them all as even their own stores ran dry.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not the same AC

      Don't confuse the haters with a fact that goes against their preconceived ideas. The poor little things really wanted to hate this morning. And an unproven claim is the same as a fact to them

      There's a waiting time if you order from Apples web site. They can't meet demand from their own stores.

      Shame and the author of this article for not balancing his report

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    le boo de la hoo ;)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @TheOtherJola = bitter

    The resellers have a choice - sell the Apple kit and make some profit or DON'T sell it and DON'T as those same people will happily order online from the Apple web site or go into an Apple Store. I bet their customers are specifying the Apple products themselves rather than being led by the reseller.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's a French company

    What are they going to do, sic the Germans on them? Drop rifles on their feet? Force them to listen to Carla Bruni songs? (Although that might be against the Geneva Convention.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I believe

      That the AC has a lack of understanding of the history of Gallic-Teutonic relations since the Napoleonic wars (and of Verdun in particular)

      or is a troll.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If, as the article states, the company has invested 6.5 million dollars in a new till system, at the request of Apple, and then Apple withholds stock in favour of its own retail operation, then there probably is a case to answer.

    1. g e

      If they're very lucky

      A judge will order Apple to reimburse for the POS.

      Then they can start selling someone else's widgets instead.

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