High-paying customers can get bigger discounts now, according to a new report

Mar 12, 2014 09:52 GMT  ·  By

Much like other companies that sell expensive gear, Apple likes high-rollers and will go to great lengths to satisfy their needs. Which is why the Cupertino giant has this “secret” Loyalty Program that discounts goods purchased in bulk. According to a new report, the company has increased the discounts.

Sensing higher demand but also wanting to cede to relentless demands from schools, businesses, and various institutions, Apple has added unlocked iPhones and Apple TVs to the mix, according to TechCrunch.

The site quotes Stephen Hackett from 512 Pixels as saying that “The AppleTV’s stronghold has been the living room, but with technology like AirPlay, it’s finding its way in conference rooms and classrooms more and more.”

Hackett, who reportedly has a lot of experience with Apple TVs deployed in IT environments, adds, “While iOS’ AirPlay has been around for a bit, OS X’s ability to use an Apple TV as an external display lets people share data on a TV or projector easily, without dealing with a bunch of cables and video adapters.”

As for the bulk purchase discounts, they’ve been upped as follows:

“Mac has gone from 5 percent to 6 percent in the lower tier and as much as 8 percent at the higher tier [...] Third-party accessory discounts have gone from 5 percent to 10 percent on the low tier and higher on the upper tiers [...] there’s ... a special iPad campaign going on right now, with big discounts (larger than the typical 2-4 percent) for 50 units and over.”

Apple’s Loyalty Program is for spending upwards of $5,000 (€3,610) and there are three tiers to the discount program. The $5K spender is classified as “red tier,” the $35,000 (€25,256) bulk purchase is classified as a “green tier,” while the “blue tier” is a segment reserved for purchases amassing $200,000 (€144,414) or more.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently lifted the Apple TV’s “hobby” status, amid rumors of the company introducing an all-new version with even more ways of putting App Store content on the big screen in a household, classroom, and anywhere in between. The product also has its individual Apple.com page as of late.

Perhaps, then, it is not surprising to find that the Cupertino giant is making room for the product in its customer Loyalty Program, with more and more organizations placing orders for the AirPlay-enabled device. Apple is expected to unveil a new version of the set-top box at an event in the coming weeks/months.