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Apple Increases HomePod Mini Price in Several European Countries

kiranmk2 said:
That's cheating! The UK behaviour had been the prices are only upated when that product range is updated (e.g. the iPad prices went up when the range were updated, but the other products didn't)
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I thought the behaviour changed with the last iPad price rises. Wasn‘t it the case that previously prices only changed when the model was updated whereas last time even the non updated models had prices rises?
 
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Apple seems to be increasing prices everywhere on everything. They've become so greedy. I know it's a first world problem, but I honestly will soon not be able to afford any Apple Products. Eventually people will not be able to afford their products anymore.

For instance, in my country the new 14" base model M2 Pro starts at 2700€, up from 2300€ which the M1 Pro started at last year. A price hike of 300€ year over year. The Macbook Air M2 starts at 1500€ which is just insane considering the target group (students etc) and its specs (8gb ram and 256gb ssd). The iPad Pro 11 inch starts at 1100€.

Who can afford this? I'm gonna end up buying second hand and keeping the devices for like 10 years or so, completely outdated and unsupported.
 
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atomic.flip said:
Isn’t it always standard practice to include VAT in the list price for consumers in Europe and UK?

I know for Europe it’s been that way for decades, as well as Scandinavia.

Unlike the United States where depending on what “county” you are in at the time of purchase the retail sales tax can vary by a few percent. So for simplicity’s sake it is added on at the time of purchase by the specific retailer.

Don’t get me started on Internet vs brick and mortar and Canada is an entirely other level of nuts with how they calculate retail sales tax. LOL
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Yes.

I meant to ask what would the price be without VAT. Which would be a more accurate comparison with the US price.
 
Tim Cook:

“Hey Siri!” “Please recalculate all European and UL prices for Apple Retail Products and update SAP immediately.”

Siri:

“I’m sorry I can’t do that on HomePod.”

Alexa:

“Hi Timmy.” “Shall I order those 24 cartons of eggs again, same as last time?”

TC:

🤦‍♂️
 
Cromulent said:
It has nothing to do with interest rates. The US Homepod Mini costs $99 which is £80. So Apple charging £99 is way more than people pay in the USA.
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Not a fair comparison as the UK price includes VAT. Without VAT, the price is £82 which is equal to around $101 USD. The U.S. price without sales tax is $99. Excluding VAT and sales tax, the prices are nearly the same.
 
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EDIT: by time I authored this and hit "save" like 15 other messages were posted explaining VAT. I swear I started this early on Page 1 before the topic was covered by so many others within a 5 minute span 😅.

Value-Added Tax (VAT) is included in the advertised (or "sticker)" prices in many parts of the world, whereas in the United States (Apple's benchmark country for setting global pricing) the sticker price is shown without local sales taxes factored in. The sales tax is only shown to the customer at the checkout stage prior to paying.

VAT in Europe ranges from 16-25%, so this needs to be added on top of the baseline exchange rate price being compared.

For reference, US sales taxes can range from 0-13.5% depending on the state and municipality a product is being purchased in/shipped to. It sort of makes sense it works this way: driving across the street in the US (if it crosses some municipality line) can change the total price paid. Given this decentralized tax model it would be nearly impossible for a company like Apple to list pricing in national advertising (or web) in a VAT-like way.

In Canada (where I am) we also have sales tax, but it is at least consistent rates within an entire province. I'd say 99% of prices are still listed in the US-style (excluding sales tax) to help make it easier for advertising nationally ... the odd exception might be a high volume sandwich stop wanting to have nice round numbers for cash purposes.
 
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parseckadet said:
Cue the comments where Macrumors readers are shocked to learn that foreign exchange rates are a thing.
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Strange time to raise prices though when the euro, pound, and other currencies are regaining their stength against the U.S. dollar. Apple should have raised prices back in late Sept when they dropped below parity.

euro.png
 
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These companies are using war in EU and worldwide recession + inflation as an excuse to charge more... I'm about to start doing the same to my clients honestly
 
atomic.flip said:
Isn’t it always standard practice to include VAT in the list price for consumers in Europe and UK?

I know for Europe it’s been that way for decades, as well as Scandinavia.

Unlike the United States where depending on what “county” you are in at the time of purchase the retail sales tax can vary by a few percent. So for simplicity’s sake it is added on at the time of purchase by the specific retailer.

Don’t get me started on Internet vs brick and mortar and Canada is an entirely other level of nuts with how they calculate retail sales tax. LOL
Click to expand...
I like US approach so much more. It feels like EU philosophy is too hide the tax so it doesn't sticks out so much, and maybe you won't think about it. While in the USA you clearly can see it and various states compete between each other for a lower tax rate.
 
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7740CACC-35DD-48B7-AB9F-BA0064E9CD55.png
These things are two years old, or even more! Apple 🤦‍♂️
Anyway, I just ordered two (from Otto at 89€ a piece) for the kids rooms before the new prices go into effect. These are going to be my last Apple purchases for a long time, unless they’re on a discount or picked up second hand from eBay Kleinanzeigen.
 
Alfred.Woodden said:
Apple seems to be increasing prices everywhere on everything. They've become so greedy. I know it's a first world problem, but I honestly will soon not be able to afford any Apple Products. Eventually people will not be able to afford their products anymore.

For instance, in my country the new 14" base model M2 Pro starts at 2700€, up from 2300€ which the M1 Pro started at last year. A price hike of 300€ year over year. The Macbook Air M2 starts at 1500€ which is just insane considering the target group (students etc) and its specs (8gb ram and 256gb ssd). The iPad Pro 11 inch starts at 1100€.

Who can afford this? I'm gonna end up buying second hand and keeping the devices for like 10 years or so, completely outdated and unsupported.
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Giving enough time and whatever Apple quality is (and it is quite high) people will buy affordable Windows notebooks.
If that goes for long enough and in relevant numbers Apple will lose economies of scale and the situation will get worse
Rinse and Repeat
It probably sounds familiar because it is, Apple has been there before.
But this doesn't need to happen and we are far for that (even not considering the iPhone effect on M series SoCs) but it could happen again.
 
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Cromulent said:
The US Homepod Mini costs $99 which is £80. So Apple charging £99 is way more than people pay in the USA.
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Ah. That USD99 excludes sales tax (which varies states to state in the US). So taking your £80 calculation and adding 20% VAT, the price would be £96. Add a little leeway for FX fluctuations and inflation over the past two years then in reality the UK price is not that different to the US price.

That doesn't mean these may or may not be expensive and/or overpriced but that's a different argument altogether.


*For non UK-ers Value Added Tax or VAT is sort of like a sales tax and most B2C sites (like Apples) quote a VAT inclusive price

EDIT: A gazillion others have already explained this I see. Sorry for the repetition.
 
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d686546s said:
I know, I know. Exchange rates, inflation and so on and so forth.

Apple -- but not just Apple -- has been pushing up its prices across the board quite a lot lately. The thing is, I don't really care why Apple needs to increase prices to keep its profit margin steady because my income, and the income of many other people, does not magically increase with inflation and exchange rates.

I love my Apple stuff and I'll keep using what I have for as long as it lasts, but if this trend keeps up I will be looking to move to a cheaper Android phone and a Windows computer eventually. It may not be just as smooth but it's good enough for my use case.

Apple is pricing itself out of my range. If it's just me, well that's my problem, but if Apple is slowly pricing itself out of the European (and probably Asian and Latin American etc) market then it's their problem. Time will tell, but I'm approaching or am beyond what I am willing to pay and frankly I really don't care what forces Apple's hand to keep profits steady.
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Yeah, I'm passed that threshold already, though I do earn much above average. I'm going to keep the iPhone for now and see how long it will last. No more other Apple products from me. Once they die, I'm ditching macbook pro and iMac. Having broad experience with MS and Linux too, I dare to say that generally Apple is overpriced and not THAT different from others as it used to be.
 
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When the Homepod mini was launched it was £99. It went down to £89 when the Homepod Not Mini was discontinued.
It's corporate pricing craftiness. Now there is an expensive one again, £99 looks cheap again.
 
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