Costco confirms it will stop selling Apple products
If you were planning to buy the next iGadget at a Costco, you're out of luck. The wholesale retailer says it plans to discontinue sales of Apple products.
In an interview with The Seattle Times earlier today, Costco's Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti confirmed the company is in the process of phasing out Apple products from its shelves.
The news confirms a 2-month-old rumor from iLounge that noted the process as already under way. iLounge's source had attributed the move to the wholesale retailer getting shut out of acquiring stock of products like the iPad, which competitors like Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Stores, and Target had gotten access to some six months after its launch.
The Seattle Times says the split is mutual and notes that, unlike some of the deals made with other large-scale Apple resellers, Costco was never allowed to sell Apple's products through its own online store. The post also highlights that Costco's sales of Apple products did not venture further than offering slightly discounted iPods and packs of iTunes gift cards.
Costco quite famously stopped selling Coca-Cola products after a pricing dispute in November of last year, before resuming sales just a month later after the two companies had worked things out.
Correction, December 10 at 10:25 a.m. PDT: This story originally mis-attributed Galanti's confirmation to a company earnings call. The comments came during an interview.