Gadgets for Sale... or Not

Sean Cooper brings us this rather in depth article on market practices in electronics. Found on Slate.

I hadn't realized quite how much goes into the marketing strategies or how much influence the manufacturers have on resale past their direct vendors. Subsidies for advertising even to resellers? Who would have thought? Not too surprising I guess. It is in their best interest. Also not at all surprising that Apple holds a tyrants' grip on their market pricing. I can see why they would since they also have their own stores to keep up. If not for that they probably wouldn't care as much if someone wants to take a slight loss on their product to drive traffic. Thoughts?