Mac resellers feeling impact of Apple Stores

Apple Stores across the U.S. and around the world have seen an unprecedented increase Mac and iPod sales, but many Apple resellers are feeling left out. Apple's authorized resellers are continuing to lose sales to Apple's online store and retail locations. Apple and its resellers have had a "love-hate relationship for a long time," says Van Baker, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. Apple's stores have helped to antagonize that relationship in some cases, because sales through them are "clearly business that didn't take place in the distribution channels," he says. Mac Made Easy, an Apple reseller in Honolulu, has lost half its sales since Apple opened a retail store in the city about 18 months ago, says owner Betty Markowski. Although Apple promised not to go after her customers, that's precisely what the company has done, Markowski says.

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