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Apple Raises Prices in Europe and Canada as U.S. Dollar Remains Strong
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Everything went up in March by about 30%, uniformly -- new and refurbished across all lines (in Canada anyway).
In February, one could have bought a completely maxed out refurbished riMac for $2700. In March it was about $4000.
Localisation is dirt cheap. I worked for a while on a website that was localized on 30 locales. The cost of localization was way way way cheaper than the previous option that was having 30 local teams with their own website.
Localization works exactly like manufacturing products in China : it is done in countries where workforce is cheap. For our websites, it was mainly handled by housewives working from home and paid by the thousands of translated words.
Then, you have some quality control to do. But that can be done for cheap. For instance, Microsoft used gamification to have his employees to that on their free time, it worked pretty well.
Moreover, Apple sells for profit. A huge profit margin, way above the standards of the industry. Moreover, Apple is much more dominant in markets like France or Germany than in the US. And phone operators there subside the iPhone to a level than cashiers and maids have iPhone. The extra sales and thus the extra profit in itself cover the cost of localization.
We are always treated as second class citizens. We always get the services late (even though other companies already provide them, i.e. Spotify in Europe and still no stupid iTunes Radio)...
And then we pay more.
iPhone 6Plus 64GB Sim-Free
Poland - 3 413,82 zł = 934.80 USD
US - 849 USD
All Prices Pre-tax
Now tell me why ? Labor is in China.
Also any R&D cost is already included in the 849 USD price so any more than that needs to be explained in other ways.
Pure money grab.
**** logic.
PS - In case you didn't notice, I'm pissed.
Also might be good to notice that when the Euro was shrecking the dollar the prices didn't go down in the same percentage.
And then we pay more.
iPhone 6Plus 64GB Sim-Free
Poland - 3 413,82 zł = 934.80 USD
US - 849 USD
All Prices Pre-tax
Now tell me why ? Labor is in China.
Also any R&D cost is already included in the 849 USD price so any more than that needs to be explained in other ways.
Pure money grab.
**** logic.
PS - In case you didn't notice, I'm pissed.
Also might be good to notice that when the Euro was shrecking the dollar the prices didn't go down in the same percentage.
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Note that localization is just an example of the extras I mentioned, like german-speaking support representatives that might be more expensive than english-speaking ones, possibly higher cost of the Apple Retail operation, 2-year EU warranty, etc.
Apple Care+ is cheaper than the price difference, and you can get a new phone just for kicks if you scratch yours which you can't with EU 2year warranty.
Also, most European countries don't even have AppleCare+.
Nevermind, you're totally right, they are not overcharging for margins. No, it's totally justifiable.
The 2012 Macbook Pro 13" is now $1,349.00 in Canada.
Bwahahahahahahaha!
You can get a way better laptop PC for $500.00.
Bwahahahahahahaha!
You can get a way better laptop PC for $500.00.
As I said, it is possible that the price difference is not entirely justified, but that does not mean additional costs do not exist. Given that the difference is not huge, it is possible to then accept it.
You are wrong. Lots of merchants in Turkey accept US dollars. US currency can also easily be converted to Lira throughout the country.
You are probably not European.
I work in IT in Poland (and did in Portugal as well) and I earn around 1500EUR for a job that in the US is paid over 6000USD, do you understand why the price differences make no sense ?
Even when the prices were 1999USD and in Europe was 1999EUR it still made no sense.
On an end note, just ignore all I said, I'm just extremely angry because I had some purchases lined up for this year and with all these money changes I probably will look elsewhere, OSX is currently a mess to be considered 10x than Windows, so...
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There are other places in the world where people earn a lot less than in the US and where imported stuff costs at least double via a combination of high taxes and price gouging.
just cold calculations. They protect themselves and their profits based on hedging policy. If you want read news in future that Apple is "again" the richest company in the world - then you have to pay extra, to make it happen.
For example asus, lenovo etc. offer better spec. options (same subcontractors, same factories, same country origin) for less price. Because they want to increase their market share (more purchases by lesser price). Apple want to compensate their poor market share by higher price, and lesser purchases.
Greed is the main word here, but they can afford it(because their income consist of many products (iphones, software, many other computers). For example everybody buy CPU for 300 USD + 20% of margin above it. Apple sales dept. adds probably 40-50% above. Same for other components. And they make minor upgrades to keep that 50% margin still alive. Probably it is a margin policy inside APPLE inc. So everytime we will pay 40-50% even for a piece of desk made by them.
that is my theory
For example asus, lenovo etc. offer better spec. options (same subcontractors, same factories, same country origin) for less price. Because they want to increase their market share (more purchases by lesser price). Apple want to compensate their poor market share by higher price, and lesser purchases.
Greed is the main word here, but they can afford it(because their income consist of many products (iphones, software, many other computers). For example everybody buy CPU for 300 USD + 20% of margin above it. Apple sales dept. adds probably 40-50% above. Same for other components. And they make minor upgrades to keep that 50% margin still alive. Probably it is a margin policy inside APPLE inc. So everytime we will pay 40-50% even for a piece of desk made by them.
that is my theory
The problem is not that Apple raised the prices.
The main problem is, that Apple raised the prices for 2 year old hardware!
If they would have announced new models with actual hardware yesterday, almost nobody would be concerned.
But the iMac is 2 years old!
Apple has much better prices for the internal components now, so it is just insane to even raise the prices. Apples profit margin is already on a high level, compared to the industry, so they could have easily keept the prices on that level until they release new hardware.
The main problem is, that Apple raised the prices for 2 year old hardware!
If they would have announced new models with actual hardware yesterday, almost nobody would be concerned.
But the iMac is 2 years old!
Apple has much better prices for the internal components now, so it is just insane to even raise the prices. Apples profit margin is already on a high level, compared to the industry, so they could have easily keept the prices on that level until they release new hardware.
Time to go home to visit family and friends in the US....the difference, probably pays for the ticket anyway...I prefer the US KB layout too anyhow...
Maybe I should start an Apple smuggling business...
Maybe I should start an Apple smuggling business...
3254$ = iMac with retina
3428$ = Macbook Pro Retina (dGPU model)
3740$ = nMP, quad core, starting model
853$ = iPhone 6, 16gb
I could go on, but no point. These are the prices for Croatia, a small country near Italy in EU. And prices still haven't been updated with new Apple prices. I expect that they will during the day.
I already stopped buying Apple products in EU coz of prices. I have a friend in NYC, so when I want something apple related, he buys it for me and brings it to Croatia during summer.
I would drop apple products completely if it weren't for him, coz these prices are absolutely insane.
3428$ = Macbook Pro Retina (dGPU model)
3740$ = nMP, quad core, starting model
853$ = iPhone 6, 16gb
I could go on, but no point. These are the prices for Croatia, a small country near Italy in EU. And prices still haven't been updated with new Apple prices. I expect that they will during the day.
I already stopped buying Apple products in EU coz of prices. I have a friend in NYC, so when I want something apple related, he buys it for me and brings it to Croatia during summer.
I would drop apple products completely if it weren't for him, coz these prices are absolutely insane.
(...) Apple, being a US company, calculates in USD. Would they export directly from the US, the strong dollar would get in their way and not be beneficial for them.
Even if those shipments are usually handled by third countries, stronger dollar becomes a concern. Therefore Apple raises the prices to get the same gross margin as before, trying to compensate the weaker €.
Market will show, if they are right with that policy. Many pragmatic users and businesses will surely reconsider buying at least somestuff.
The question is, if those die hard zealots will still be willing to vote with their wallets.
I think this ship has already sailed for the highend mac configurations in Europe. I guess that the real pragmatic users and businesses switched to other solutions. I know it is just anecdotical evidence, but nearly no one i know has bought any other mac product than the more or less base version of the 13'' MBA or rMBP. Some of them owned a 15''/17'' MBP or iMac, but they use now a combination of 13'' MBA + a powerful desktop system with high end display. The new Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro and 15'' rMBP are considered to be overpriced for what you get. Apple asks for a steep premium price, despite being often less powerful than cheaper windows machines.
Too bad that there are no public numbers for european mac sales. Against the global trend of stable or good mac sales and increasing marketshare, their netmarkshare in Germany dropped from 7,62% (april 14) to 6,8% (april 15) in germany. But so far Apple doesn't care about it. They seem to be content with increasing profits margins on all products. User experience (spinning drives in a 2000$ mac lol) and bigger marketshare aren't a priority for them. I am really interested how this works out in the long run. Probably not so easy to get customers back when they started leaving the ecosystem.
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European prices include taxes while US prices don't so if you look at AS page the differences seem higher.
If I include the California taxes to a MBP I have to pay about $250 more in Italy. When I went to the US 3 years ago I saved about $400 on a MBA (i7, 8GB ram, 256GB so not the base model but a pricey one) so prices were too high even with a very strong Euro but thanks to that it was worthwhile buying stuff in the US.
European prices were less fair back then in my opinion. Now with a weak Euro they raised the prices, it was obvious
If I include the California taxes to a MBP I have to pay about $250 more in Italy. When I went to the US 3 years ago I saved about $400 on a MBA (i7, 8GB ram, 256GB so not the base model but a pricey one) so prices were too high even with a very strong Euro but thanks to that it was worthwhile buying stuff in the US.
European prices were less fair back then in my opinion. Now with a weak Euro they raised the prices, it was obvious
People sometimes also forget that in the U.S. taxes and all-in prices overall are lower. For example, cars prices in Holland are 40% tax, gas is 1,73 / liter = $ 6,54 / gallon.
One should add that while consumers in Europe pay ~20% VAT, Apple keeps about 7.5% of that for change since they only pay 12.5% back. *shakes head*
Maybe they don't care anymore about these machines and those price tags help to sell more iToys ultimately since they look quite cheap in comparison.
Maybe they don't care anymore about these machines and those price tags help to sell more iToys ultimately since they look quite cheap in comparison.
1300 for the lowest iMac...1300 for a Mac with a i5 Dual Core 1.4GHz, a 500GB spinner and the HD 5000...
I think the real "problem" is the community itself. 'we" accept that Apple charges more money for normal hardware. And "we" are still buying it when they raise it with 10 / 20 / 30%. If we just stop buying...
My iMac is getting old and i need to replace it soon. I am walking with plans to switch back to Windows because of the better configurations and to be honest, Windows is changed into a really nice OS.
This price change for ppl like me in Europe is not helping too. iMac or PC.. I think Apple is going to loose me as a desktop user.
My iMac is getting old and i need to replace it soon. I am walking with plans to switch back to Windows because of the better configurations and to be honest, Windows is changed into a really nice OS.
This price change for ppl like me in Europe is not helping too. iMac or PC.. I think Apple is going to loose me as a desktop user.
One should add that while consumers in Europe pay ~20% VAT, Apple keeps about 7.5% of that for change since they only pay 12.5% back. *shakes head*
Maybe they don't care anymore about these machines and those price tags help to sell more iToys ultimately since they look quite cheap in comparison.
The iPhone starts from $820, the iPad Air 2 from $560 and the Apple Watch is not yet available but should start from $450
The iPhone is about $100 more than the US so not a huge difference.
As I said prices are more fair now than when Euro was stronger. I just hope they won't raise iPhone prices this fall