Sure, instead Best Buy would record a 22% gross margin for selling the software on a CD [0] (I know it's not a perfect example since Best Buy sells a lot of things, but Software was 22% of sales in the linked period)
[0]https://s2.q4cdn.com/785564492/files/doc_financials/2006/bby...
If anything, that's just evidence that Apple is grossing abusing its market position.
With Apple, its the opposite. If Apple sells something at a discount, the developer suffers (or Apple has to pay the difference in some countries). If it doesn't sell, no one gets any cash. Apple has no incentive to market something and/or move inventory. Apple has only the incentive to market things that you spend money on vs. Best Buy that has to take a risk on something by spending money to buy it from the publisher first.
We receive vendor allowances for various programs, primarily volume incentives and reimbursements for specific costs such as markdowns, margin protection, advertising and sales incentives. Vendor allowances provided as a reimbursement of specific, incremental and identifiable costs incurred to promote a vendor’s products are included as an expense reduction when the cost is incurred. All other vendor allowances, including vendor allowances received in excess of our cost to promote a vendor’s product, are initially deferred and recorded as a reduction of merchandise inventories.