The issue involves Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) practice of shipping pallets that contain a selection of each of the five colors the company produces.
Demand for the different colors is highly variable, and Best Buy has complained about getting stuck with inventory that isn't selling.
But while the potential for further problems among retailers -- particularly if other PC makers start experimenting with different colored machines -- the situation for now seems limited to Apple and Best Buy.
CompUSA Inc. (NYSE:CPU), the other leading retailer that carries the iMac, has said that it doesn't mind stocking all five colors, even if it means that it runs out of a particular color once and a while.
"We've been fortunate. Grape is the top seller but if it's gone, and they want an iMac they'll get something else. The computer is the big thing," said Susanne Shelton, spokesperson for CompUSA.
And retailers also have the option of buying their systems from distributors, which charge more, but allow greater flexibility in ordering.
"It would be impossible to have everything [people] want in stock, so we use a distributor to get an entire order together," said Dave Sweeney, systems engineer at Cambridge Electronics Inc. in Somerville, Mass. "People seem fine with getting it in two days instead of taking it home that day."
Getting flexible
Apple has become somewhat more flexible on the issue, announcing earlier this month that it would begin shipping pallets that contained four blueberry colored systems and one each of strawberry, grape, tangerine and lime.
"If you want to stock inventory you have to take what they have. It takes a little longer to sell tangerine than blueberry or grape," said Tony Violanti, vice president of Computer Town Inc. in Salem, N.H.. "But there's other things you can do with those. In February, we ran a Valentine's day special with strawberry, on St. Patrick's day we ran special with the green one. It works out."
