Apple Cutting International Pricing to Rebalance Currency Conversion Rates?

[wackymacky]

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But does this price cut include other hardware? (like the iMac and the soon to be released mac pro)

Hope so, IMO it wouldn't make sence not to do this to every product, I see no explantion if they didn't.

Apple tends to base NEW released models at the time of release, then the price is fixed for the life of that model.

It's just the way they do things. There are big enough to hedge with currency in their main markets so those contries could set the prices locally, they just chose not to.

 

[La Porta]

The price difference is MUCH higher than just VAT rates, which are roughly at the same level as sales tax in the US...

What? Even here in NY, where I am from, the sales tax is 8 3/4ths%...which is very high for the US (others have 5%, 4%, none, etc)...some other guy here just posted saying that the VAT is 20%...so how is that even close to the same level?

 

[walterg74]

Man I really wish I could reveal my source, but I know new MBA's are coming tomorrow. I couldn't get him to tell me if Lion was coming too, but whatever. I know nobody will believe me, and I hate that! At least this kind of news is starting to point to it being true anyway.

And this is important to us because...?

 

[PapaStu]

The price difference is MUCH higher than just VAT rates, which are roughly at the same level as sales tax in the US...

If a VAT is 20% then it's pushing twice most places sales tax. Sales tax greatly depends on the state lived in, as well as the town / county. I could go up to Oregon and pay no tax on anything, or I can buy my item here locally and pay 8.250% or 8.750% depending on if i'm at work or not (work in one county, live in another). I can also skirt sales tax (for the time being, which will soon be coming to an end) by purchasing from certain places online like Amazon.

Even big cities like NY at 8.875% and San Francisco at 8.500% are well below these VATs. I think the closest that anything gets in the US to it is the 11% range and those are specific city + county + state combinations (Washington DC and Chicago both spring to mind).

 

[rworne]

If they are doing this, then why did they release sales info for EU (and everyone else except the US) for app sales to developers yesterday? They could have pocketed a nice profit releasing that data after they revised the numbers today.

I'm wondering how apps will be priced afterwards in non-US territories.

 

[walterg74]

Prices here in the UK are much higher than in the US, even when you consider the tax. After the educational discount it's still more expensive I believe.

EDIT:
Did some calculations based on the 2.2 15 inch MBP:
US = $2200
UK = £1849
UK conversion = US$2940.99
UK minus 20% VAT = US$2352.79
after the 15% educational discount UK = US$1999.87ù

Still, that's a difference of US$152.79 before the discount. much less than I had thought, but it'd be nice for cheaper prices. Really it's the tax that's ridiculous. Luckily I live in Malawi, so I can get VAT off.
Whats the US tax rate like in most states?

So you're pissed about a 20% tax? Try living here in south america and paying 50% then!

As an exxample, a MB that cost $1000 in the US costs $1500 here (yes, US).... (plus the fact the ppls salaries are about 1/4 of US salaries... you do the math).

 

[the8thark]

Seems logical! The exchange rate really is bad now.

Bad from a US point of view. But good from a rest of the world point of view.

 

[racketeer71]

Bad from a US point of view. But good from a rest of the world point of view.

Well, that really depends on your point of view.

For US companies exporting stuff, it's really great since their products get cheaper overseas, and therefore more competitive.

 

[nerdo]

Only 3 years late but better late then never, in 2008 it was 0.64 euro cents for a dollar, now it is 0.71 euro cents on a dollar. Bought a lot of very nice cinema gear in the US because of the dollar Now actually might get even more apple junk.

 

[fishmoose]

Christ, I ordered a new MBP a little over a week ago.

 

[striker33]

Bad from a US point of view. But good from a rest of the world point of view.

Yeah, it sucks so hard living in the US, getting everything so much cheaper than the rest of the world.

That's a typical American attitude that annoys so many, which also leads to stereotyping.

 

[Jeaz]

I certainly hope so, my local currency has been very strong towards the dollar over the last couple of years. It's dropped as much as 40% compared to how it was before the financial crisis began, but we've only seen price cuts in around maybe 10-15%.

 

[Jeaz]

Bad from a US point of view. But good from a rest of the world point of view.

Not necessarily bad for US economy, as it'll increase your export.

 

[orfeas0]

Prices here in the UK are much higher than in the US, even when you consider the tax. After the educational discount it's still more expensive I believe.

EDIT:
Did some calculations based on the 2.2 15 inch MBP:
US = $2200
UK = £1849
UK conversion = US$2940.99
UK minus 20% VAT = US$2352.79
after the 15% educational discount UK = US$1999.87ù

Still, that's a difference of US$152.79 before the discount. much less than I had thought, but it'd be nice for cheaper prices. Really it's the tax that's ridiculous. Luckily I live in Malawi, so I can get VAT off.
Whats the US tax rate like in most states?

In greece the base mac models (999$ ones) cost 1200$ WITHOUT vat. With vat you get a 999 machine for like 1500...

 

[50548]

What? Even here in NY, where I am from, the sales tax is 8 3/4ths%...which is very high for the US (others have 5%, 4%, none, etc)...some other guy here just posted saying that the VAT is 20%...so how is that even close to the same level?

In Switzerland (where I currently live) it's 7,8% or 8%, so...

Just to give you an idea, a top-of-the-line 2011 iMac bought in the US + CUSTOMS FEES/VAT + SHIPPING COSTS would STILL be at least 200 dollars CHEAPER than if one bought it from the Swiss Apple Store here...

 

[MaynardJames]

Make Canada dollar for dollar already!

Finally! this is great news for Canadians. Our dollar is almost 5 cents more thano the US.

Canadian prices are already almost all on par with US prices. iMacs and Mac Mini's are on par, while Macbooks are all no more than $50 more than their US counterparts. The only real disparity left is with Mac Pro's which are $100 to $200 more than their US counterparts.

 

[brettryan]

In Australia we've been paying too much for too long, our GST is 10% yet have been paying more than the US for far too long, our $ has been over parity almost all year (currently 1.07).

Our iTunes pricing never changes, a 99c song costs us 1.19 while an album costs us $16.99, that's 15% more than it should be after GST, given AU$ as 105cents, it should be $1.10 (105 * 0.95 * 1.1 = 109.725).

Apple hardware likewise rounding down:

iMac 1,199 US 1,399 AU (11% too high)
MacBook Pro 1,199 US 1,399 AU (11% too high)
iPad 499 US 579 AU (11% too high)

Adding options will bump up the price too.

 

[trims]

In Switzerland (where I currently live) it's 7,8% or 8%, so...

Just to give you an idea, a top-of-the-line 2011 iMac bought in the US + CUSTOMS FEES/VAT + SHIPPING COSTS would STILL be at least 200 dollars CHEAPER than if one bought it from the Swiss Apple Store here...

No such luck in the UK: the combination of Customs Duty and Import VAT is punitive:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm

Any local price adjustment may also reflect perceived local competition. MacBooks do look pricey against the competition at present, especially since Windoze has upped its game . . . .

 

[takao]

for years this have been an issue ... finally some movement from apple

i remember the times when the conversion rate euro - dollar was beyond 1.50 and apple wouldn't do a thing .. at that time i did the whole comparison with the whole apple line up at the price premium for euro countries was a whopping 25+% on average (some pushing 35% more) ... of course after i subtracted VAT


as far as i can seen from amazon.de prices there might already be some unofficial price drop at work:
the base 15" macbook pro is priced ~1590 euro
on the official apple store: 1749 euro

that is a massive difference

edit:
if i take the official 1749 euro, subtract the 20% VAT and convert to dollar i get 2062 dollars: a 313 dollar difference
if i take the amazon price that goes down to a 94 dollar extra which is much more tolerable

 

[Azathoth]

Don't they have "value added" tax ******** in Europe that accounts for most of the cost increase?

Sales tax in my country: 25%.
Macbook (Apple store in my country, without tax): 1230 USD using google currency conversion
Macbook (Apple store USA): 1000 USD

I.e. 23% more *not including tax*. There are some different warranty requirements etc, but given that customer service in the Apple stores in the US seems to be better than the service we get here, that might be moot.

 

[SilianRail]

Sales tax in my country: 25%.
Macbook (Apple store in my country, without tax): 1230 USD using google currency conversion
Macbook (Apple store USA): 1000 USD

I.e. 23% more *not including tax*. There are some different warranty requirements etc, but given that customer service in the Apple stores in the US seems to be better than the service we get here, that might be moot.

Forgot about the mandatory warranty for electronics products in the EU. Doesn't it cover for 5 years? In the states Apple charges $249 just to cover it through year 3.

 

[tmroper]

The whole point of a low dollar strategy is to make US goods cheaper abroad. Why Apple has been slow to take advantage of this has always been a mystery to me, but glad to see they finally might be.

 

[iStudentUK]

Forgot about the mandatory warranty for electronics products in the EU. Doesn't it cover for 5 years? In the states Apple charges $249 just to cover it through year 3.

It's more complex than that, there isn't a mandatory EU wide warranty despite some people thinking there is. However, there are other consumer protection laws. In a lot of EU countries Apple still sells AppleCare and people still buy it. You can often get away with not buying it and use the law, but you have to be willing to argue your case and even go to court if needed.

 

[Mr MM]

ˆ%*&ˆ$&ˆ%$&ˆ%$&ˆ%$((*ˆ*%& I just bought the mbp! and now the price is going to drop *&(!*ˆ%*&ˆ%(&$ˆ!#($!

here in Brazil people can get the base mbp for U$ 2.250 Although I got mine for U$1900, Im still pissed about it, lets hope that the applecare warranty gets also a price cut

 

[mcvildand]

Forgot about the mandatory warranty for electronics products in the EU. Doesn't it cover for 5 years? In the states Apple charges $249 just to cover it through year 3.

Don't know about the rest of EU, but in DK Apple gives 1 year warranty and we have 2 year of the mandatory "warranty" (it's not a warranty, it's just 2 years we have to return a product that was broken when bought). To get 3 years warranty we also need to buy APP or some kind of electronic insurance.

It's different for products bought on the internet, but I don't remember the laws about that