As part of its deal with Apple, Amazon will only allow authorized resellers on its site, kicking independent Apple device refurbishers off its platform
Except for the One It Wants to Beat Eric Abent / SlashGear : Apple devices are about to invade Amazon Eli Blumenthal / USA Today : Apple, Amazon make peace before the holidays as latest iPhones, iPads head to the retailer AJ Dellinger / Engadget : Apple plans to sell more of its products on Amazon Lisa Marie Segarra / Fortune : Apple to Start Selling New iPhones, iPads, and Watches Through Amazon PYMNTS.com : Amazon Inks Deal To Expand Apple Product Selection Peter Cao / 9to5Mac : Writing with iPad Pro: The first 48 hours away from Mac Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Amazon expands its assortment of Apple inventory, including the latest devices Michael Simon / Macworld : You'll soon be able to buy Apple's products on Amazon, but don't expect any crazy Lightning Deals The Seattle Times : Amazon to start selling newest iPhones, other Apple products Mercury News : Coming soon to Amazon: Apple ... but not Alexa's competition Jesse Hollington / iLounge : Amazon makes deal with Apple to begin selling iPads and iPhones Andrew Orr / The Mac Observer : Looking for Amazon Apple Products? Soon It Will Sell More Buster Hein / Cult of Mac : Amazon gets green light to sell more Apple products Evan Selleck / iPhone Hacks : Amazon Strikes Deal with Apple to Sell the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch Pradeep / MSPoweruser : Amazon will soon start selling Apple products directly in several countries Michael Potuck / 9to5Toys : Apple and Amazon make global deal to directly sell more products, including iPhone, iPad, more Gary Ng / iPhone in Canada Blog : Amazon Signs Deal with Apple to Sell iPhones, iPads and More, But Not in Canada [u] Mehedi Hassan / Thurrott.com : Amazon Partners With Apple to Directly Sell iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Jared DiPane / iMore : Apple said to begin selling iPhone XR, new iPad Pro, and more on Amazon reddit : Amazon Is Kicking All Unauthorized Apple Refurbishers Off Amazon Marketplace Tweets: Scott Galloway / @profgalloway : The only real competition the Four face is each other. http://motherboard.vice.com/ ... Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : These are *not* Apple products and not advertised as such though, and they won't be taken down from Amazon as a result of this new agreement. This is an Amazon quality control and algorithm problem; a lot of them show up at the top of Amazon if you just type ‘lightning cable’ Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : Amazon's biggest problem with “counterfeit” products as it pertains to Apple has nothing to do with Apple products at all. It has to do with peripheral devices (Lightning cables, headphones, chargers) that are not advertised as “Apple” products. Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : They are third party accessories that are advertised as “Made for iPhone” even though they are not, and are shoddy and don't have the MFi chips in them (this is what made for iPhone means—Apple sells accessory makers components that they then use in third party products) Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : I have seen a lot of people saying that this is going to end Amazon's Apple counterfeit problem, or that this is definitely tied to the problem of counterfeit Apple products on Amazon. This is misleading, and there's no indication this is actually the case. Gene Sperling / @genebsperling : Wow. If this is right, it is as if Amazon and Apple got together to brainstorm on ‘what could we come up with to viscerally prove that every fear people have of us abusing our market dominance to crush little guys is true.’ Really wrong and disturbing. http://twitter.com/... Marco Arment / @marcoarment : This makes sense. I've been burned multiple times buying counterfeit Apple accessories on Amazon (power adapters, etc.) labeled as new and authentic. Amazon's control over knockoffs is awful.The only things I refuse to buy on Amazon: Apple products, memory cards, and dog food. http://twitter.com/... Dan Masters / @ohmdee : Not only is Apple reducing product inclusions, and not only are they price-hiking by over 20% - now they're trying to eliminate their biggest retail competition. If that isn't evidence of the disdain they have for their customers, I don't know what is. http://twitter.com/... Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : NEW: Apple has forced Amazon to kick all independent Mac and iPhone refurbishers off Amazon Marketplace as part of a new megadeal that allows Amazon to sell new Apple products http://motherboard.vice.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple and Amazon struck a deal in November 2018 that put first-party iPhone, iPad, and Watch listings on Amazon ahead of the holidays — with the catch that only authorized resellers could remain on the marketplace. The arrangement was part of a broader pattern Recode documented weeks later, in which Amazon restricted how popular brands sell independently when they also want direct presence on the platform.
The aftermath is well-documented in this corpus: within six months all but the largest Apple device resellers had vanished from Amazon, and by mid-2019 the FTC had opened an inquiry into the deal, interviewing at least one seller of refurbished MacBooks. A later report found Apple's product pages carry few rival ads — the preferential treatment that anchored the original bargain.
First-order effects
- Independent Apple refurbishers immediately lose their Amazon sales channel, since listings are now restricted to authorized resellers under the deal terms.
- Amazon gains direct first-party sales of new iPhones, iPads, and Watches ahead of the holiday quarter, consolidating Apple demand onto its own retail operation.
Second-order effects
- The deal sets a template other brands must weigh: as Recode reported, Amazon limits independent selling by popular brands that also want to sell directly on the platform, forcing a choice between channel control and marketplace reach.
- Refurbished-MacBook sellers and other secondary-market players are pushed off the largest US marketplace toward smaller channels, thinning price competition on Apple hardware listings.
Third-order effects
- FTC interest in the deal signals that marketplace-exclusivity bargains between platforms and brands may draw antitrust scrutiny when they clear out small sellers.
- If the pattern holds, major marketplaces restructure around brand-authorized supply with preferential placement — as the 2023 report of ad-free Apple pages suggests — at the cost of the independent reseller layer.
The trend: Online marketplaces are trading open third-party supply for brand-controlled authorized channels, with exclusivity deals buying preferential placement and regulators beginning to take notice.