Apple Dips Into Discounting

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apple(AAPL) stores as a discount house? Let's slow down already. Apple stores are hardly festooned with sale signs, and a New Age Crazy Eddie isn't shouting about "insane" prices.

That said, discussion over the weekend revolved around this: Apple has quietly told its store workers to match discounts on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S from approved major retailers and carriers like Sprint(S) , which is currently offering a $50 break. Apple won't offer the discounts automatically; customers have to ask.

In reporting on this turn of events, Investor's Business Daily, The Examiner, PC Magazine and pretty much everyone else told the same simple tale. Apple is doing it to clear inventory in preparation for the expected release of the iPhone 5 in September.

Fair enough, to a point.

But it's hard to discount selectively. Granted, if anyone can do it, Apple probably can. But discounting, even for a great high-end retailer -- or consumer electronic maker -- tends to be a slippery slope. Once customers see a sale, their perceptions and preconceived notions begin to change. They start to expect a sale.