Earlier today Kogan announced they were now selling products from other manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, Samsung and the most noteworthy – Apple. As Kogan does, they are boldly promoting their discount prices and claim they have the cheapest Apple iPad 2 anywhere in Australia. The 16GB WiFi iPad 2, sells via Kogan for just A$489 +delivery. Kogan says:
Until now, the prices that Australians have been paying for consumer electronics have been significantly above World averages. That is all about to change.
That may be true, but achieving Kogan’s low prices is normally due to their Manufacturer to Consumer direct business model. Contacting an Asian manufacturer to brand a batch of TVs as Kogan is one thing, but selling big name brands at discount prices is another.
On multiple occasions, I remember there being a clause for retailers to sell Apple products at a fixed price. Theory is, this allows consumers to shop at any Apple reseller and get the same fixed price. Breaching this set price was also rumoured to loose a reseller their right to distribute Apple products.
So how is Kogan achieving the lowest Apple prices in Australia ? Simple, they aren’t doing it through Apple, they’re going around them. In response to this question I received the following response from Kogan PR.
“To secure the prices we are able to sell these products for, we have cut out more middle men and gone higher up the supply chain. Beyond this, we don’t discuss specific details of our supply chain. This is confidential information.
If you want to know Apple’s opinion on it you have to ask them.”
Make of that what you will, but I’d expect some kind of response, legal or otherwise shortly. Being cheeky to Harvey Norman or JB Hi-Fi is one thing, playing with fire with Apple is another.
