Unbundling

The process of separating one product into separate constituent products. Many products that are consumed as complements are bundled as a form of price discrimination, such as cheap airline tickets and vacation hotel accommodation. Business travelers are excluded from the cheap airfares by the bundling. Services may also be bundled to command producer rents. For instance, by an optician who bundles a contact lens eye exam with purchase of the first pair of lenses. The optician could previously bundle the service and product to command a rent from being in the contact lens distribution channel. But not any more because contact lenses can be purchased on websites - leading to unbundling of the eye exam and contact lens purchase.