Could they sign up a contract for with one or more of the companies supplying the individual iPad components for 100K pieces a year until 2020, with a hefty penalty for breach of contract, and loudly publicise the deal? They’d lose the option of switching suppliers in case a better one came along, but it may be worth it given the strategic payoff.
(That is assuming the company in question doesn’t have a vertical monopoly, controlling all production steps from the ore mines to quality testing, which is a very reasonable assumption for nearly every physical product)
Could they sign up a contract for with one or more of the companies supplying the individual iPad components for 100K pieces a year until 2020, with a hefty penalty for breach of contract, and loudly publicise the deal? They’d lose the option of switching suppliers in case a better one came along, but it may be worth it given the strategic payoff.
(That is assuming the company in question doesn’t have a vertical monopoly, controlling all production steps from the ore mines to quality testing, which is a very reasonable assumption for nearly every physical product)