In his latest “Byte of the Apple” column for BusinessWeek, Alex Salkever writes that if Apple refuses to heed the complaints of resellers (that Apple Stores are damaging their businesses), both sides will suffer. Salkever says that Apple must comes up with a plan to “rebuild and reinvent” its ties with small resellers. “First, it needs to be honest and admit that Apple stores are hurting the resellers’ business and that not all of them will survive,” writes Salkever. “Second, Apple has to treat those that do hang on as integral parts of its organization and sales effort. Finally — and most crucial — Apple needs to ease the pain by coming up with programs to encourage these longtime partners to help it accomplish goals it can’t achieve on its own.”
