大象传媒

The sale

• Maggie Shiels
• 27 Nov 08, 13:10 GMT

In the States, the day after Thanksgiving has been dubbed "Black Friday".

A jolly moniker for the day that retailers throughout the country hope will pass to the sounds of ringing tills. Okay so I know tills don't ring anymore, but you get the gist.

Of course with the global financial crisis spelling doom and gloom for the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, retailers are being more aggressive than ever in trying to persuade shoppers to crack open the credit card or spend their hard earned dollars.

So for anyone with the cash to spend, there are bargains galore to be had.

This year of course life is very different for everyone in the world of retailing and that includes the maker of what is regarded as some of the coolest products on the planet, Apple.

In the past, has offered discounts of between 5-10% at this time of year.

But with e-commerce sales for October increasing a miserly 1% on last year, retailers are pulling out the stops to get shoppers into their stores by increasing the discounts and jump-starting Black Friday with online promotions.

The likes of and , which are approved Apple sellers, are offering reductions of 15% with savings of $250 (拢162) on new MacBook Pros and $159 (拢103) off new iMacs. It doesn't look likely the iPhone will be hitting the bargain bin any time soon.

quotes analyst Shaw Wu of as saying that the retailers are bearing the brunt of the price reduction for sound economic reasons.

"We believe the reason retailers are willing to take a hit is due to the ability of Apple products to draw people into stores and the high likelihood that these customers will purchase high-margin accessories including cables, cases and speakers," said Mr Wu.

I know I will get lambasted for writing about this subject, but there is a point to all of this and that is that Apple guards its price point as fiercely as the Yeoman of the Guard protects the crown jewels. While it generally offers a small discount at this time of year, Apple is also upping the ante in light of the tough economic times.

Although this doesn't give much away, the company has made it known it will price match any product sold by a competitor. Some industry watchers say this is to ensure anyone shopping for Apple products does so at an Apple store or online.

Michael Oh, president of, an Apple reseller, said while it's not great news for him this is just market reality at work.

"They're saying 'As retailers, we need to be competitive in an extremely difficult environment.' From that standpoint, they have to tell their staff, do whatever you can to get the deal."

All of which shows that times are just as tough for Apple as they are for everyone else and that the company is no more recession proof than any other retailer in the present climate.