I'm a little perplexed by Colette offering the addition for half-price. The Edition is the prestige piece, and nothing says overpriced failure more than slashing the price of your showpiece, especially at a time when they can keep prices high for in-demand Christmas gifts. And it's even more bizarre coming from Apple partner Colette.
Do you remember Tim Cook stating very clearly that the Edition would be sold in "very limited" quantities? I think he even added, that it won't be available for long. I've been waiting to see when Apple would discontinue the Edition in order to make good on that claim, and thought it would be well before now. Then I expected they would discontinue it after the holidays. Now I'm not so sure. It's starting to sound like lip-service now, and is sort of embarrassing that the limited Edition has not sold out to become the coveted collectors item Apple clearly positioned it to be.
Whether this is a marketing stunt by Colette (which I doubt), or not, Apple has strict pricing guidelines on their products. Vendors sign contracts in order to carry Apple products which have strict pricing regulation by Apple. That's why you don't see a wild fluctuation in prices of new Apple products from retailer to retailer. And given Apple's history with Colette, even a sale of 50% on a product is surprising, let alone that Apple's prestige product, which should theoretically never go on sale because it's a "limited" edition. As others have pointed out, Apple basically builds for demand, so Colette should not have had a lot of excess stock of Editions. And to the extent they did somehow, I have to imagine they would have had to seek permission from Apple to sell them for half price, even on sale. At a minimum, I would think given their relationship, they would have at least notified them. And I would think Apple would have offered to accept the return of the unsold Editions rather than have them placed on the half price table. I mean half-price sales are for after the holidays, not before. Bottom line, I have a hard time believing Apple endorsed this kind of price drop on the Edition, nor are likely happy about it.
All things considered, it doesn't bode well for the sales of the Edition. In fact this feels a lot more like the 20th Anniversary Macintosh after Steve Jobs return. And frankly, even if $10-$17,000 doesn't make a dent in a person's wallet, nobody likes to find out they overpaid for something. Colette's previous Edition customers cannot be pleased. And it suddenly makes that Karl Lagerfeld gift of Apple gold seem a lot less exclusive.
It will be very interesting to see what happens to the Edition after the holidays.
