Apple Hikes iPad Mini Prices Outside US, With Europe Faring Worst

[webkit]

Hey, don’t let facts get in the way!

If U.K. people want to pretend Apple prices never went the other way, then it’s gotta be true!

Right, and perhaps someone from the UK can explain BritBox's pricing of its streaming service in the U.S.

Why did the subscription price of BritBox increase 14% in the U.S. but stayed the same in the UK when the U.S. dollar is actually stronger right now? Given the exchange rate, if the price stayed the same in the UK and nothing else has changed, it should've dropped in the U.S. In British Pounds, BritBox is charging Americans 38% more this year than last year.

I guess that means Americans should be blaming UK corporate greed here as the U.S. price has actually increased despite the weaker £.

Those greedy Brits!

 

[JippaLippa]

It would be nice if Apple can also let the consumers know why there is such a massive increase in price.

Inflation
Chip Shortages
War in Ucraine

yadda, yadda, yadda...

Of course the real reason is:
"We're market leaders, we can afford to jack the price and you'll buy our stuff regardless".

 

[webkit]

All those quoting currency. Apple never drops prices when the pound is stronger than the dollar.

Let’s see if they drop the prices back 30% in the UK when the economy settles back down.

Prices overseas were lower last year when the USD was weaker against those currencies. It's also not unusual for customers overseas to be paying less than U.S. prices (in USD). For example, the pre-VAT price of a 128GB iPhone 14 in the UK right now is £707 which at the current exchange rate is around $794 USD. Even with this year's UK price increase in pounds, that's still LESS than the pre-sales tax price ($829) for the same phone in the U.S.

Price adjustments also occur with apps. In August 2021, for example, Apple had lowered app prices in South Africa, UK, and euro currency countries due to the weaker USD.

It's not a perfect system as Apple doesn't adjust prices as often as currency rates change but they do adjust prices to reflect currency fluctuations.

 

[webkit]

When’s the last time Apple dropped prices for their products in Europe?

I admit I don’t really keep track of them but they always seem higher for us even when you take out our admittedly sky high sales taxes.

I don't live in Europe so can't say for sure. However, even with price increases, it's not unusual for customers overseas to pay less (in USD) than the price of the same device in the U.S. Using Germany as an example, the pre-VAT price of a 128GB iPhone 14 is €834. At the current exchange rate, that's around $815 USD which is less than the pre-sales tax price ($829) for the same phone in the U.S.

Perhaps some people in EU countries and the UK (see my price comparison example in above post) should feel lucky they aren't paying U.S. prices right now and yes, I do realize there's the high VAT but that's not Apple's fault.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

I don't live in Europe so can't say for sure. However, even with price increases, it's not unusual for customers overseas to pay less (in USD) than the price of the same device in the U.S. Using Germany as an example, the pre-VAT price of a 128GB iPhone 14 is €834. At the current exchange rate, that's around $815 USD which is less than the pre-sales tax price ($829) for the same phone in the U.S.

Perhaps some people in EU countries and the UK (see my price comparison example above post) should feel lucky they aren't paying U.S. prices right now and yes, I do realize there's the high VAT but that's not Apple's fault.

I can’t recall a single time when converting the price in EUR (minus tax of course) to USD led to a lower number.

Granted I don’t do that every day, just when I have to actually buy something from Apple, but I still don’t remember that happening very often.

Also I’m sorry but isn’t the iPhone 14 $799 pre-sales tax - not $829?

 

[UK-MacAddict]

Prices overseas were lower last year when the USD was weaker against those currencies. It's also not unusual for customers overseas to be paying less than U.S. prices (in USD). For example, the pre-VAT price of a 128GB iPhone 14 in the UK right now is £707 which at the current exchange rate is around $794 USD. Even with this year's UK price increase in pounds, that's still LESS than the pre-sales tax price ($829) for the same phone in the U.S.

Price adjustments also occur with apps. In August 2021, for example, Apple had lowered app prices in South Africa, UK, and euro currency countries due to the weaker USD.

It's not a perfect system as Apple doesn't adjust prices as often as currency rates change but they do adjust prices to reflect currency fluctuations.

Thing is the prices had already increased in the UK in the years prior since 2017. Every year the prices crept up whilst the pound was still stronger than the dollar. So when extremely marginal price reductions came, if you can call it that, they weren’t really price reductions at all.

 

[Paul605]

In New Zealand, the base model iPad Mini has gone from $849 to now $999. That’s a substantial increase for having nothing extra done to it. I think Apple are trying to justify the 2nd gen pencil since the iPad only has the first gen, which you now need a dongle to charge. Whoever is making these decisions at Apple needs to be sacked!

 

[webkit]

I can’t recall a single time when converting the price in EUR to USD led to a lower number.

Granted I don’t do that every day, just when I have to actually buy something from Apple, but I still don’t remember that happening very often.

It's happening right now and this is after the overseas price increases some are complaining about.

Also I’m sorry but isn’t the iPhone 14 $799 pre-sales tax - not $829?

The actual pre-sales tax retail price of the 128GB iPhone 14 is $829. The $799 figure includes a $30 "connectivity discount" offered by some carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) but if you don't connect through those specific carriers when you buy, the price is $829.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

It's happening right now and this is after the overseas price increases some are complaining about.

I see, guess it’s our ridiculous VAT rates that are to blame then 🤷‍♂️

Still, I don’t remember the last time Apple actually lowered the prices for us but I suppose that’s more indicative of how the economy as a whole is going rather than what Apple is doing.

Now, if we could only get increased wages to go with the higher cost of goods…

The actual pre-sales tax retail price of the 128GB iPhone 14 is $829. The $799 figure includes a $30 "connectivity discount" offered by some carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) but if you don't connect through those specific carriers when you buy, the price is $829.

Oh I see lol, that’s dumb
I actually heard about that but I had no idea the Apple website was that deceptive

 

[JPack]

I see, guess it’s our ridiculous VAT rates that are to blame then 🤷‍♂️

Still, I don’t remember the last time Apple actually lowered the prices for us but I suppose that’s more indicative of how the economy as a whole is going rather than what Apple is doing.

It was last year. iPhone 13 Pro was €960. Exchange rate with USD was 1.17.

 

[giebe]

Nothing exciting again. Hey new chip, slightly better camera as always every year. Nothing to upgrade for.

 

[webkit]

I see, guess it’s our ridiculous VAT rates that are to blame then 🤷‍♂️

Hopefully you guys get some sort of reasonable return from whatever VAT is supposed to help cover in government services, lowering other taxes, or whatever but the 20% rate is high.

Oh I see lol, that’s dumb
I actually heard about that but I had no idea the Apple website was that deceptive

Apple has an arrangement with a few carriers to offer $30 connectivity discounts if the customer connects their new phone to one of those carriers at time of purchase. This allows Apple to use the lower price (e.g., $799 instead of $829) in advertising, promotions, etc. The price differences are eventually specified once you get to the connectivity section during checkout as shown below (I added the arrow).

 

[dgdosen]

Interesting they're doing this so late (13 months?) into the product cycle. This will effectively dry up world-wide demand for the mini. And it's more expensive than the new new iPad.

 

[*~Kim~*]

Agree. I’d wager the majority of Pencil 2 users have an Air or a Pro, as I don’t think there’s enough screen real estate on the Mini to really justify buying the pencil. So it’s an extra £80 for a one generation newer chip and a laminated display. It’s possible the two also have the same RAM, though we’d have to wait for the 10th Gen teardown.

This is after infuriating Mini buyers/potential Mini buyers by making the Air so much better than it after 6 months.

 

[_Spinn_]

Apple gave no reason for the price hikes outside the US, but they could be linked to the strong dollar combined with rising inflation

This has to be the reason.

 

[aperantos]

Right, and perhaps someone from the UK can explain BritBox's pricing of its streaming service in the U.S.

It is because they have different content as they are essentially different services.

The international version is co-owned by I.T.V. and the B.B.C. and provides access to current programmes from their channels as well as archive and original content. But current programming is not available on the British version because, obviously, it is freely available on television as well as the broadcaster's own free streaming services.

So Britbox U.K. is only archive content plus their few originals, is also now wholly owned by I.T.V., and from next month will be merged into their new streaming service anyway.

 

[dampfnudel]

I bought my iPad mini with cellular a year ago for £619.
Today's price is £749 for the same device.

For a one-year-old product that probably won’t be updated for another year or more.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Hopefully you guys get some sort of reasonable return from whatever VAT is supposed to help cover in government services, lowering other taxes, or whatever but the 20% rate is high.

I cope with it by telling myself that’s how we pay for the second year of mandatory warranty haha

Apple has an arrangement with a few carriers to offer $30 connectivity discounts if the customer connects their new phone to one of those carriers at time of purchase. This allows Apple to use the lower price (e.g., $799 instead of $829) in advertising, promotions, etc. The price differences are eventually specified once you get to the connectivity section during checkout as shown below (I added the arrow).

View attachment 2097979

Yup, I finally noticed that after I saw your post lmao
In my defense you have to scroll down a lot to see it on mobile 😂

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

It was last year. iPhone 13 Pro was €960. Exchange rate with USD was 1.17.

Huh, what country was that in? I’ve never seen a pro that cheap!

Inspired by this I went looking for some historical prices for my country (Italy) and I found this

Credit where credit is due, apparently they did lower the Pro price from 11 to 12 by a cool 50€, which is something that I honestly completely missed

I wish there was an up to date table of iPhone prices over time for the different countries - this stuff is actually kinda fascinating.

I’d say that overall the price is trending up, but unlike what I initially assumed it looks like Apple does not shy from lowering prices over year when they feel it’s fair to do so.

 

[JPack]

What country was that in?

I was looking for some historical prices for my country (Italy) but I only found this and now I’m even more depressed 💀

Germany, and every other country that uses euro as legal tender.

It's pretty simple, take out the 20% VAT that's included in the list price. The rest of the world doesn't include taxes in their list prices.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Germany, and every other country that uses euro as legal tender.

It's pretty simple, take out the 20% VAT that's included in the list price. The rest of the world doesn't include taxes in their list prices.

I actually revised my response after realizing some prices did go down but yes, I’m aware of the tax thing lol, I was more interested in the price trending upwards or downwards

Also unfortunately not all countries that use the euro get the same price.
Not only is our VAT higher (22%) than say Spain (21%) our country insists on charging a piracy tax on all devices that can hold data which means that you can easily pay 60€ on top of VAT

 

[sracer]

I wonder what their sales figures will be for EU this quarter since all of the insane price increases.

I suspect that net revenue (profits) will be up as a result. Apple doesn't care if they sell fewer units but make a higher profit on what they sell. Apple is finely tuned to their customer base and they know the pain points. They made these decisions knowing that after all of the whinging and complaining, a significant majority will bite their lip and buy the new models.

 

[Asbow]

Germany, and every other country that uses euro as legal tender.

It's pretty simple, take out the 20% VAT that's included in the list price. The rest of the world doesn't include taxes in their list prices.

You have to deduct 16.5% to get the VAT free price.

 

[wilberforce]

Apple has to put some cash aside to pay for all the EU fines. People are under the mistaken belief that Apple pays these fines. Sorry, the customer does.

 

[Theryesider]

Bought my iPad Air 5 in May £569 for the 64gb, now £669 quite a hike.