Report: Apple Stores to Limit 3rd Party Accessories, Overhaul Packaging

Apple (AAPL) reportedly will limit the number of third-party accessories sold in its retail stores to items in packaging co-designed by the vendor.

In the past six months, Apple is said to have worked with a number of third-party accessory suppliers to redesign their packaging containers so they more closely resemble those of the vendor’s own products, according to a 9to5Mac report.

The overhaul, which is slated for next week, is expected to result in a pared down collection of non-Apple accessories available in the vendor’s retail stores, the report said. The move follows earlier changes by Apple to improve environmental standards on packaging from outside accessory suppliers.

New packaging closer in design to Apple’s own for accessories made by Tech21, Sena, Incase, Mophie, Logitech and Life Proof soon will show up on shelves in Apple’s retail stores, according to a note the vendor sent to its retail store staffers, 9to5Mac reported.

To mirror Apple’s own packaging, containers from third-party accessory suppliers primarily will be white in color, feature simple fonts, new photography, higher-quality materials, and more consistent compatibility labeling, the report said. Apple debuted the all-white packaging concept when it released the Apple Watch in April. The idea is to deliver a more premium feel to the accessory displays and to impart a uniform look, the report said.

Apple is expected to work with additional accessory suppliers on the new packaging requirements while cutting items that don’t fit its design requirements.

This latest word on accessory packaging follows a Macotakara report last month, as recounted by 9to5Mac, that Apple also plans to showcase new accessory displays at some of its retail stores. Already the vendor has experimented with the new displays at its recently opened Upper East Side store at 940 Madison Avenue in New York and intends to follow suit with other stores starting next month, the report said.