Comparing Apple Hardware Prices

[will]

How do Apple prices compare worldwide? With all the discussion of PowerBook price cuts I thought it would be interesting to compare the price of Apple kit in the online Apple store in different countries. I have excluded tax from the calculation to make the comparison fair.

It appears that Euro prices (based on the German store) are considerably higher than the US, I suspect Apple haven't fully adjusted their prices in light of the recent appreciation of the Euro (prices would be equal if one dollar was worth one Euro). Prices in Canada and Japan are a little higher than in the US, but not nearly as different as European prices. Prices in the UK, which has seen its currency rise a little against the dollar are over 10% higher.

All data was collected at approx. 08:00GMT on 03 June 2003.

Prices in local currency (Source Apple.com)
Model			US		UK		DE		JP		CA	
15G iPod		  399.00	   254.47	   430.17	  47,800	   599.00
12.1" PB Combo		1,599.00	 1,105.53	 1,599.00	 199,800	 2,249.00
17" PB Superdrive	3,299.00 	 2,211.91	 3,199.00	 399,800	 4,699.00
Duel 1.25GHz PM         1,999.00	 1,360.85	 2.099,00	 249,800	 3,199.00
12" iBook CDROM		  999.00	   680.00	   999.00	 124,800	 1,429.00
20" Cinema Display	1,299.00	   935.32	 1,399.00	 164,800	 2,049.00
TOTAL		  	9,594.00	 6,548.08	 9,725.17	1186,800	14,224.00
TOTAL in US Dollars	9,594.00	10,607.89       11,242.30      10,111.54        10,283.95
Percentage Difference	0.0%		+10.6%		+17.2%		+5.4%		+7.2%

Currency Rates 30 day moving average (Source Economist.com)
US Dollar	1.000
UK Pound	1.620
Euro		1.156
Japanese Yen	0.00852
Canadian Dollar 0.723

Using the 30 day moving average ensures that a sudden change in exchange rate on a few days doesn't skew the result.

 

[cb911]

hhmmm... that's interesting. i guess that the US will always have lower prices than the rest of the world. i would do the prices for Australia, but i'm in class... and a bit too tired and lazy.

 

[Sun Baked]

Re: Comparing Apple Hardware Prices

Originally posted by will
Using the 30 day moving average ensures that a sudden change in exchange rate on a few days doesn't skew the result.

Problem with this is you're using a 30-day moving average to compare the prices to market prices in each country.

Car companies have this problem all the time, build a car using worldwide parts supplier build in a few locations and then move product back into the world market.

Problem is you might be buying parts in locations where the currency fluctuates, and selling the finished product in a market where the currency is also moving.

You cannot be changing the price of a car daily, buyers would not tolerate it -- raise price too high above comparable local product and they jump ship to the cheap car.

Some days you win some days you lose, become a worldwide company and you become a currency trader. Loses in one location cover profits in another.

You're stuck with adjusting prices more infrequently only to "hope" you come out profitable in the long run.

But you also have to compete locally.

If Apple brings back clones, they'd get chewed up with local companies -- now that they've closed the more local factories and outsourced via third-party contracts.

---

And it's probably simpler or more complex than that.

 

[maradong]

the price of the 17'' Powerbook in germany is :
3.710,84

just an information.

 

[will]

Re: Re: Comparing Apple Hardware Prices

Originally posted by Sun Baked
Problem with this is you're using a 30-day moving average to compare the prices to market prices in each country.
...

I know this is an issue, I choose to use 30day moving average, rather than today's rates for exactly that reason. The reason I didn't choose a longer period was because the Euro appears to continue to appreciate, and looks like it will remain strong in the medium term (a bad thing for European exporters).

I wouldn't expect Apple's prices to be exactly the same in all countries, however currency movements do have an effect on prices, and prices in Canada and Germany have already fallen to partially compensate for currency movements. Given Eurozone prices are about 1/6th higher, and the Euro continues to rise I suspect we shall see further falls in pricing there, perhaps only when new products are introduced.

Having markedly different prices worldwide is not good as it encourages grey market imports, and annoys customers.

In summary, prices will always vary between countries using different currencies, but in the long term I would expect Apple's prices before tax to be similar in all countries.

 

[will]

Originally posted by maradong
the price of the 17'' Powerbook in germany is :
3.710,84

just an information.

That's the price including tax, to make my comparison fair I looked at prices before tax. Apple don't control VAT rates!

 

[maradong]

true. but actually people have to pay the vat price as well...
( btw if i calculate the tax away it s 3117.1056 )
but i don t want a flame ware just to tell you .

 

[will]

Originally posted by maradong
true. but actually people have to pay the vat price as well...

True, but as I said, that is outside Apple's control. In a bricks and motar retailer in many US states you will have to pay state sales tax. The object of the exercise was to see how Apple's pricing compared, not look at the taxation systems of different countries.

( btw if i calculate the tax away it s 3117.1056 )
but i don t want a flame ware just to tell you .

I got the price before tax by adding the item to my shopping basket, going to the checkout, and noting down the price before tax.

 

[maradong]

Originally posted by will
True, but as I said, that is outside Apple's control. In a bricks and motar retailer in many US states you will have to pay state sales tax. The object of the exercise was to see how Apple's pricing compared, not look at the taxation systems of different countries.

i fully understand your point. and , your right

I got the price before tax by adding the item to my shopping basket, going to the checkout, and noting down the price before tax.

well i took the total priice and calculated -16 %.
but anyway. thanks for doing this comparissation .

 

[Sun Baked]

Re: Re: Re: Comparing Apple Hardware Prices

Originally posted by will
I wouldn't expect Apple's prices to be exactly the same in all countries, however currency movements do have an effect on prices, and prices in Canada and Germany have already fallen to partially compensate for currency movements. Given Eurozone prices are about 1/6th higher, and the Euro continues to rise I suspect we shall see further falls in pricing there, perhaps only when new products are introduced.

Wow, you mean the sticker price of the American made BMW Z4 and Mercedes M-Class have dropped in Euros?

And the Corvette must now be a smoking deal if you purchase it anywhere in Europe using Euros?

 

[Nermal]

Apple really needs to get their international prices lower. It's terrible here in New Zealand, we don't have an Apple presence, and no Apple online store, just resellers. Fortunately all the laptops (yes, all of them, not just the 12" and 15" PBs) just had a price drop, but they're still quite expensive. And iPods are ridiculous - the 30 GB is about US$780 here!

 

[maradong]

Originally posted by Nermal
Apple really needs to get their international prices lower. It's terrible here in New Zealand, we don't have an Apple presence, and no Apple online store, just resellers. Fortunately all the laptops (yes, all of them, not just the 12" and 15" PBs) just had a price drop, but they're still quite expensive. And iPods are ridiculous - the 30 GB is about US$780 here!

outsch
what about the 17 '' one ? did they get a lower price right now ?

 

[kristianm]

Originally posted by maradong

i fully understand your point. and , your right


well i took the total priice and calculated -16 %.
but anyway. thanks for doing this comparissation .

Price after sales tax is y = x+x*sales tax
Price before sales tax is than not x = y - y*sales tax , but x = (y / (1+salestax))

I think this should be correct, a bit difficult to think math while writing HTML. Apple usually gives the prices with and without sales tax.

 

[Abstract]

Geezus, its just a comparison. The results aren't going to change. The prices in the US are the best. That is all.

 

[yzedf]

Import duties (tarrifs) for European countries of American goods can be quite high, depending on the item. Further complicated by the fact that the goods probably ship from Taiwan.

 

[Nermal]

Originally posted by maradong
outsch
what about the 17 '' one ? did they get a lower price right now ?

Yep, the 17" dropped by US$250, they're now US$3995 (still too much!!)

 

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by yzedf
Import duties (tarrifs) for European countries of American goods can be quite high, depending on the item. Further complicated by the fact that the goods probably ship from Taiwan.

1) There is the European Union. So Duties would be the same for every country of the EU if there would be any...

2) On computer hardware and software there isn't any duty when shipping from the US to Europe.

3) Macs for the european market are assembled in Ireland, so they are not shipping from the US at all.

4) Apple always keeps a reserve of 14% (or more since they waited pretty long to adapt to the wek dollar) on top of the US price here in Europe. Regarding the fact, that they already have a margin of 20-25% on the US prices, this is a major rip off. Just check how long it took the € back then to lose 14% against the US$. It was about 6 months. That's almost a whole product cycle! Apple never hesitated to go up with the prices immediately when the +10% mark was hit. The other way around it took them almost 6 months to adapt to the strong €, still charging 14% on top again...

I love Macs, but I hate Apple!

groovebuster