Say you’re a world-renowned consumer electronics maker and you’ve got more gadgets running around the world than the US has citizens. You’d probably welcome the glut of protective cases and screen protecting films that accessory makers are selling to protect the “shininess” of your devices. Well, Apple doesn’t follow traditional lines business practices. To prove that point, Apple is reportedly planning to completely ban the sale of screen protection film solutions from its stores.
The report comes from iLounge, which claims that Apple is preparing a shift in sales policy that would block accessory manufacturers from selling any iPhone, iPod, Mac, or iPad accessory that has anything to do with those scratch-fighting plastic films. The ban will exclude all types of screen films – clear, anti-glare, mirrored – regardless of whether they’re protective films or just cosmetic/decorative.
What gives? That’s really anyone’s guess. Only Steve Jobs knows for sure why Apple doesn’t want to have their iPhones protected from scratches and nicks. One possibility, as iLounge posits, could be that Apple wants to boost awareness for the durability of their devices. We really don’t think that’s the case, because, aside from the iPhone’s fairly scratch-resistant glass touchscreen, there’s really nothing keeping an errant key or paperclip from scratching the hell out of our MacBook Pro or the backside of our iPhone 3GS.
Whatever the case (no pun intended), we have to wonder how this move will affect accessory makers in Apple’s online and brick-and-mortar stores. Looks like Amazon.com and eBay.com are going to get a boost in traffic soon!
[Via: iLounge]