And if, as is true for some titles, your ebook sales make up half of your total sales, slashing prices whilst also having your sales cannibalised by secondhand sellers could be a painful and possibly fatal experience.

FORBES: Amazon Eyes Secondhand Ebook Market

You could try to increase total sales by lowering prices, but if you face a downward sloping demand curve then maximum profits will always occur at a lower production level than maximum revenue.

FORBES: Corporate Profits and Aggregate Demand

Huge contract manufacturers like Flextronics and Solectron are buying more parts directly from suppliers, cutting out distributors, while prices for chips (half of Arrow's total sales) drop 30% annually.

FORBES: Stuck in the Middle

The rate of distressed sales (of foreclosed properties or short-sales) is declining, which in turn means the number of cheaper homes being sold off, as a proportion of the total number of sales, is falling, giving a boost to average prices.

FORBES: Beware The Bubble In Homebuilders As Housing Prices Rise

Total PC dollar sales actually rose 1% from a year ago, as average prices increased 7%, reflecting the weakness in netbooks.

FORBES: PC Unit Sales Fall 6% In January From Year Ago; Macs Grow 20%

Total refined product sales slipped 4.5% from a year ago, which suggests higher energy prices are being met by resistance as demand contracts.

FORBES: Hey Exxon, See You Soon Down At $60

However, television sales fell despite the rollout of new 3D models, with both average prices and total volumes notching "low-double digit" declines compared with last year.

WSJ: Cellphone Sales Boost Best Buy Profit