A great piece by Neil Cybart on why retailers have decided to slash prices on Apple products this year. I especially enjoyed this bit:
Best Buy and Target are discounting Apple Watches and iPads because they are confident those two products will be able to garner interest and buzz to generate increased foot traffic and page views. Only 2% of Target’s sales originate from its website, with Best Buy seeing a bit larger percentage (10%). Accordingly, It is conceivable that these Apple product sales will drive traffic to stores. Given the competitive trends, being able to get a consumer to a store is becoming more difficult and expensive. Once in a store, Target can then do its job and sell additional product.
Retailers get you in the door by advertising low prices on Apple devices, then they make their profit off of everything else you buy while you’re there.