Though the confrontation outside the Apple store in Sanlitun Village was resolved peacefully, the company's long-term "hunger marketing" strategy has sparked questions from inside the industry, International Finance News reported Monday.
"Hunger marketing" refers to a kind of marketing strategy where the commodity provider reduces production in order to create demand. If the product is popular, this strategy will allow the provider to achieve control of supply and demand while maintaining a high commodity price and profit purpose.
A confrontation between a "foreign" staff member and angry customers happened at 3 pm on Saturday as shoppers waited in line to buy the newly released iPad 2 and iPhone 4. A glass door was also smashed in the fracas, according to a previous report from China Daily.
Wang Qianhu, the assistant secretary-general of the China Consumers' Association, said if the customer is determined to be a shopper rather than a scalper, Apple's staff must be held liable for this case.
According to Wang, if Apple reduces production in order to create demand when they can actually satisfy the demand, the administrative authorities should punish them, the newspaper said.
