Aliás, sobre a política das empresas, achei um curioso texto que abordava o mercado russo, mas que também discutiu, ainda que de passagem, a política da Rolex, que é a das demais. O texto é de 2011 e impressionantemente profético. Extrai um trecho:
What Le Temps has also reported is that Rolex is engaged in a programme of market manipulation ahead of launching a new volume from the Geneva factory. Unsold watches were being repurchased from retailers, the newspaper said, and contracts with traditional component manufacturers and suppliers were being terminated. In their place, Rolex is planning to control all parts of the watch production line, adding another 300 workers, and turning out “an even larger output of timepieces.”
Watchmakers in Europe say that Rolex is preparing to put on the market one million watches per annum. That represents a jump of almost 30%. To sell this many, the company is aiming, not so much at taking market share from other luxury watch brands, but rather at existing Rolex owners. Across the world, watchmakers and jewellers, who have held licences to repair and service Rolexes for many years, report that their contracts are being terminated, and they are being cut off from the supply of certified Rolex spare parts and components on which the quality of the watch and its guarantee depend.
In their place, Rolex is promoting a reduced number of its own service centres. Trade sources say that Rolex has issued a global policy, requiring these centres to lift the price for servicing watches brought in by current owners, so that the cost of repair is at least half or closer to three-quarters of the price of a new watch. In Melbourne, Australia, for example, the estimate for routine servicing for a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air King (circa 1970) is almost $1,200. In London, the price is the equivalent in pounds. By contrast, in a mid-size town in France, the licensed watchmaker still in business with a Rolex licence charges just €200 for the same job, including parts The licensed watchmakers of Geneva were charging an equivalent t price two years ago.
But no more. The French watchmaker isn’t going to last long in the Rolex business, he says. That is because a flood of new Rolex timepieces is coming, and to assure that they will be sold, the Rolex strategy is to send as many old Rolexes to the scrap heap where they will compete with Asian-made replicas and counterfeits. Rolex clone movements, as they are called in the spam market, are currently priced at around $150. Full fakes or replicas can be bought for between $39 and $69.
O mais importante aí é: a estratégia da Rolex era "sucatear" seus próprios relógios, para que seus próprios consumidores comprassem novos produtos, ao descartarem os antigos.
Isso deu certo nos últimos anos? Bem... Eu acho que não. O declínio das vendas nos últimos dois anos talvez indique uma tendência. Só o tempo dirá...
O texto completo
http://www.businessinsider.com/privatizing-rolex--the-fake-tells-a-truer-tale-2011-3Flávio