Apple's Sales Promotions

Apple has become notorious for rarely ever having sales or discounts, whether the product is purchased via Apple directly or a third party retailer. The price of an ipod, iphone, or ipad remains the same through it's lifetime until a new generation of the product is released which is when a possible price change may be issued with the new product. They do however utilize small, but well thought out online sales promotions via the online Apple store that gives the consumer an advantage over purchasing from a third party retailer such as Best Buy or Target. Since the introduction of the iPod, they have offered free engraving when ordering online. This may seem simple or even insignificant, but has been surprisingly popular when giving iPods as gifts or just to mark you iPod to deter theft.
The only other promotion that has been in place on Apple's website is their Mac Educational Pricing. This allows college students, teachers, and administrators to get a good discount on mac products and software when ordering online. The discount is not more than 20% but I did use it to purchase my macbook pro and it was helpful. This promotion was extremely well thought out because it promotes mac in the schools, and will help younger users become more familiar with mac products and possibly grow up to switch to mac regardless of what their parents have at home because of the influence mac has had in their schooling. This is similar to the technique McDonald's used with the Happy Meal in that they got their product out to children who would grow up with the product and be more inclined to purchase it again as an adult.
Apple also utilizes tools for trade sales promotion in their flagship stores by having a team of qualified Apple Specialists available to help with all consumer needs and questions, as well as always having products readily available for demonstration. The fact that the consumer can try to use the product themselves as well as have the product explained to them is a key selling point.