I am Brazilian and I currently use three Apple products: a white MacBook (which I bought in 2008), an iPhone 4S (my first iPhone, which I bought this year) and an iPod Touch (my third iPod, actually).
You may have heard that Apple products are very pricey in Brazil, and that is due to the heavy (and abusive) taxes imposed by the government on consumer products. Steve Jobs himself once said that the super crazy tax policies of Brazil made it "very unattractive to invest in the country".
For your information, see below some examples of the prices of Apple products in Brazil in comparison with prices in the U.S. (both were taken from the online Apple Store of each country; the prices were converted from Brazilian Reais to U.S. Dollars according to the exchange rate as of today: US$ 1 = R$ 1,82):
iPod Shuffle 2GB: US$ 49 (US), US$ 126 (Brazil)
iPod Nano 8GB: US$ 129 (US), US$ 318 (Brazil)
iPod Nano 16GB: US$ 149 (US), US$ 373 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 16GB: US$ 199 (US), US$ 395 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 32GB: US$ 299 (US), US$ 582 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 64GB: US$ 399 (US), US$ 774 (Brazil)
iPod Classic: US$ 249 (US), US$ 505 (Brazil)
iPhone 3GS: US$ 375 (US), US$ 659 (Brazil)
iPhone 4 8GB: US$ 549 (US), US$ 988 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 16GB: US$ 649 (US), US$ 1,428 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 32GB: US$ 749 (US), US$ 1,648 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 64GB: US$ 849 (US), US$ 1,867 (Brazil)
iPad 2 16GB Wi-fi: US$ 399 (US), US$ 769 (Brazil) [price in Brazil dropped after the new iPad was announced in the US]
iPad 2 16GB 3G: US$ 529 (US), US$ 1,015 (Brazil) [price in Brazil dropped after the new iPad was announced in the US]
Apple TV: US$ 99 (US), US$ 219 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 11", 64GB: US$ 999 (US), US$ 1,647 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 11", 128GB: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 1,922 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 13", 128GB: US$ 1,299 (US), US$ 2,087 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 13", 256GB: US$ 1,599 (US), US$ 2,856 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 13", 2.4 GHz: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 1,977 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 13", 2.8 GHz: US$ 1,499 (US), US$ 2,746 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 15", 2.2 GHz: US$ 1,799 (US), US$ 3,680 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 15", 2.4 GHz: US$ 2,199 (US), US$ 4,395 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 17", 2.4 GHz: US$ 2,499 (US), US$ 5,054 (Brazil)
Mac Mini 2.3 GHz: US$ 599 (US), US$ 988 (Brazil)
Mac Mini 2.5 GHz: US$ 799 (US), US$ 1,483 (Brazil)
Mac Mini Server: US$ 999 (US), US$ 1,812 (Brazil)
iMac 21" 2.5 GHz: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 2,197 (Brazil)
iMac 21" 2.7 GHz: US$ 1,499 (US), US$ 3,076 (Brazil)
iMac 27" 2.7 GHz: US$ 1,699 (US), US$ 3,516 (Brazil)
iMac 27" 3.1 GHz: US$ 1,999 (US), US$ 4,065 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 4-core: US$ 2,499 (US), US$ 4,560 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 8-core: US$ 3,499 (US), US$ 6,373 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 12-core: US$ 4,999 (US), US$ 9,257 (Brazil)
Yes, the low-end 11" MacBook Air in Brazil is more expensive than the high-end 13" MacBook Air in the US. The low-end 21"iMac in Brazil is more expensive than the high-end 27" iMac in the US. The iPhone 3GS is more expensive in Brazil than the iPhone 4S in the US. And so on. Insane, isn't it?
You may have heard that Apple products are very pricey in Brazil, and that is due to the heavy (and abusive) taxes imposed by the government on consumer products. Steve Jobs himself once said that the super crazy tax policies of Brazil made it "very unattractive to invest in the country".
For your information, see below some examples of the prices of Apple products in Brazil in comparison with prices in the U.S. (both were taken from the online Apple Store of each country; the prices were converted from Brazilian Reais to U.S. Dollars according to the exchange rate as of today: US$ 1 = R$ 1,82):
iPod Shuffle 2GB: US$ 49 (US), US$ 126 (Brazil)
iPod Nano 8GB: US$ 129 (US), US$ 318 (Brazil)
iPod Nano 16GB: US$ 149 (US), US$ 373 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 16GB: US$ 199 (US), US$ 395 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 32GB: US$ 299 (US), US$ 582 (Brazil)
iPod Touch 64GB: US$ 399 (US), US$ 774 (Brazil)
iPod Classic: US$ 249 (US), US$ 505 (Brazil)
iPhone 3GS: US$ 375 (US), US$ 659 (Brazil)
iPhone 4 8GB: US$ 549 (US), US$ 988 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 16GB: US$ 649 (US), US$ 1,428 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 32GB: US$ 749 (US), US$ 1,648 (Brazil)
iPhone 4S 64GB: US$ 849 (US), US$ 1,867 (Brazil)
iPad 2 16GB Wi-fi: US$ 399 (US), US$ 769 (Brazil) [price in Brazil dropped after the new iPad was announced in the US]
iPad 2 16GB 3G: US$ 529 (US), US$ 1,015 (Brazil) [price in Brazil dropped after the new iPad was announced in the US]
Apple TV: US$ 99 (US), US$ 219 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 11", 64GB: US$ 999 (US), US$ 1,647 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 11", 128GB: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 1,922 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 13", 128GB: US$ 1,299 (US), US$ 2,087 (Brazil)
MacBook Air 13", 256GB: US$ 1,599 (US), US$ 2,856 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 13", 2.4 GHz: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 1,977 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 13", 2.8 GHz: US$ 1,499 (US), US$ 2,746 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 15", 2.2 GHz: US$ 1,799 (US), US$ 3,680 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 15", 2.4 GHz: US$ 2,199 (US), US$ 4,395 (Brazil)
MacBook Pro 17", 2.4 GHz: US$ 2,499 (US), US$ 5,054 (Brazil)
Mac Mini 2.3 GHz: US$ 599 (US), US$ 988 (Brazil)
Mac Mini 2.5 GHz: US$ 799 (US), US$ 1,483 (Brazil)
Mac Mini Server: US$ 999 (US), US$ 1,812 (Brazil)
iMac 21" 2.5 GHz: US$ 1,199 (US), US$ 2,197 (Brazil)
iMac 21" 2.7 GHz: US$ 1,499 (US), US$ 3,076 (Brazil)
iMac 27" 2.7 GHz: US$ 1,699 (US), US$ 3,516 (Brazil)
iMac 27" 3.1 GHz: US$ 1,999 (US), US$ 4,065 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 4-core: US$ 2,499 (US), US$ 4,560 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 8-core: US$ 3,499 (US), US$ 6,373 (Brazil)
Mac Pro 12-core: US$ 4,999 (US), US$ 9,257 (Brazil)
Yes, the low-end 11" MacBook Air in Brazil is more expensive than the high-end 13" MacBook Air in the US. The low-end 21"iMac in Brazil is more expensive than the high-end 27" iMac in the US. The iPhone 3GS is more expensive in Brazil than the iPhone 4S in the US. And so on. Insane, isn't it?