Amazon Cozies Up to Apple

If you’re an Amazon shopping junkie with an iPhone habit, you just hit the jackpot. The online retail behemoth has made a deal with Apple to sell all its best-selling portable communication gadgets, including iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches direct from its website.

Technically Amazon has offered Apple products before, but those have been sold from third-party sellers, which means that the prices are often variable (and wildly different from the “official” Apple prices) and that sourcing isn’t as reputable.

Apple products will start rolling out on Amazon sites in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and India over the next few weeks, including both Apple’s devices and the wildly popular Apple-owned Beats brand.

The deal doesn’t include every Apple product, though. Apple’s HomePod is notably not going to be sold on Amazon. Maybe that’s because it competes with Amazon’s own Echo. Ya think? Conversely, only Apple or Apple-authorized resellers will now be allowed to sell Apple and Beats devices through Amazon’s site. Any independent Amazon sellers that are currently selling Apple products will see their listings taken down starting on January 4th, and they’ll need to apply to Apple to become official resellers before they’ll be allowed to sell them again on Amazon.

Looks like a classic quid pro quo for these giants of their industries. Or, as Amazon and Apple would probably prefer to look at it: win-win. If it benefits the consumer, it’ll be a win-win-win for everyone.

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Photo Credit:  Yeamake / Shutterstock.com