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More Problems For Apple In Portugal? Apparently It’s Getting Sued For 40M Euros By A Reseller [Report]

Posted: 21 Jul 2012 07:33 PM PDT

Another legal tangle for Apple in Portugal? Just days after a consumer rights group in the country said it was preparing to bring legal action against Apple over the wording of its AppleCare warranty service, it has emerged that an IT reseller and distributor called Taboada & Barros is already suing Apple over claims of price fixing and unfair trade practices, asking for €40 million ($49 million) in damages.

According to a report in the Portuguese-language Apple blog iPhoneTuga – citing details first reported in the Portuguese weekly newspaper Sol – the suit stretches back to February but seems to have only been made public now, in light of the action being taken by the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO). Unlike the DECO case — which has a precedent in Italy, where Apple was fined $1.2 million over a similar matter — this lawsuit is less cut and dry.

Taboada & Barros, which also controls a large Apple distributor called Interlog, alleges that Apple’s intentional restrictions on the quantity of products it distributes through third parties led to the failure of Interlog. And this has coincided with Apple getting more active in the country, it says:

“Apple arrived in Portugal in 2007 and the following year, usurped the distribution channels that were assembled by Interlog for over 20 years, taking over from our distributors.”

Apple has a dedicated site for Portugal but relies on resellers for physical sales.

A post on Portuguese business news site Economico, dating back to May 2011, underscores how demand has outstripped supply at resellers. With iPhone handsets, iPad tablets and other devices and peripherals not arriving after March (presumably due to Interlog failing), some claimed unfilled orders for devices like the iPad tablet.

A source at TB, speaking to Sol, says that on top of restricting the flow of products to third parties, Apple renegotiated the margins that resellers can take on products down to 4 percent from a previous 12 percent. “Apple unilaterally established products, prices and quantities to be sold to large retailers,” it said.

It’s likely that the margin reduction and lost sales over supply issues are both factors in the request for €40 million in damages.

Given that in other countries Apple has played a strong role on the retail side, with its own direct presence in the form of physical and online stores, if all this is accurate, it should be unsurprising to hear Apple cracking the whip and attempting to bring more of the sales effort in Portugal under its wing. Regardless, coming as it does alongside the DECO action, even raising the issue of unfair practices can end up being damaging to Apple’s reputation in the country.

We are contacting both TB and Apple for comment on this story and will update as we learn more.

Review: Graham Chronofighter Oversize GMT Watch

Posted: 21 Jul 2012 12:53 PM PDT

If you’ve been following my weekend watch reviews, you’ll note that I tend to like bigger watches. But even this monster – the Graham Oversize GMT – is too big for me.

Graham is a British manufacturer of haute horology. Named after famed clockmaker George Graham, the company manufactures mostly in Switzerland and uses a combination of bespoke movements as well as some modified ETA pieces. The Chronofighter is a bit different and a bit more interesting.

What are you looking at here? First, this is one of Graham’s flagship watches. It contains an automatic caliber G1733, Graham’s first in-house movement with a big date at twelve o’clock and a large GMT hand. It also has a chronograph with a unique pusher/crown arrangement to stop and start measurements and a plunger-like pusher.

That big trigger stops and starts the chronograph and it also protects the crown. The case is 47mm in diameter and the watch is quite thick, with a signed, solid case back. It is ostensibly water resistant to 100 meters.

On the wrist, especially with a leather strap, the watch is surprisingly light. However, the trigger on the side is definitely an acquired taste and tends to dig into the flesh if you’re on the slightly slimmer side. While I wouldn’t count myself as svelte, I felt it was a bit too big.

But what fun it is to wear. Graham is a polarizing watch company that jumped into the big watch trend with both size 14s. The piece is bold and very eye-catching and the British pedigree and essential “tool-ness” of the watch makes it an interesting find. You can pick these up for about $11,000 brand new but the collectors markets often surfaces them for about $8,000, which isn’t bad for a hand-manufactured watch the size of a bundt cake.

Of all the big watches I’ve reviewed, this watch is the most difficult to recommend outright. I’m more inclined to encourage folks to visit the dealer and try this thing on to see for themselves how it fits and I worry that it is big for big’s sake – a concept watchmakers throughout the previous decades were falling over each other to promote.

Graham has a unique new vision and although they’ve been attacked by some purists as being garish I would say that they are instead bold. The Chronofighter is a huge watch for folks who like huge watches and, for the money, I haven’t seen anything beat it in terms of visibility, utility, and sheer cheek.

Product Page

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:11:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:11:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:11:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 7/22/2012 05:12:00 AM

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