I do not see a reason for Apple to "test the waters" when it comes to prices. This happened when the MacBook Air first launched and are we seeing a redux with the Retina hardware? SSD/NAND prices have also tanked hard in the past 6 months.
Other vendors tend to adjust prices much more quickly and ship newer hardware out the door closer to its initial release. All of this component information is easily available elsewhere but Apple still plays the game as if they have control of the mystery box.
Apple sells a differentiated product. Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. compete primarily on specs and price, and they also don't have their own networks of retail stores, so they will change prices more often.
It could also be that Apple deliberately kept the 13" price high during the holidays to keep demand manageable. They might have done too good a job, which is why the price drop came sooner rather than later, but I was predicting on other threads a few weeks ago that we'd see a $1499 base rMBP and $1699 256GB version. I just figured it would come with Haswell this summer, rather than with the Ivy Bridge refresh in February. Now I wonder if well see a $1299 Haswell model.