Then my question is why have you and others seemed to be quick to quip about Apple's price points when it's not Apple but your countries taxes that raise those prices? You are educated as you have demonstrated, others may not be aware of these facts, but I have read posts from you in the past in which you complain about Apple's prices, in the states and otherwise.
Apples, oranges and pears.
1) It's true that myself and others have questioned Apple's pricing, mainly on the grounds that it's just mass-produced junk from Chinese sweatshops just like any Wal-Mart blow dryer, that the components inside are largely commodity PC components, and that the premium is therefore largely unjustified. If Audi manufactured their cars in China I would be questioning their premium pricing too, but their cars are hand made in Germany by ludicrously expensive labor so I can't really argue. People like to know what the premium is based on so they can feel that paying more was justified, and Apple's excuse appears to be little more than "just because".
2) I have never been unaware of the VAT issue, and I also don't pay VAT on Apple products since I run a firm and can buy computers etc. VAT free as long as they're used for work only (yeah, right
). Which is why I always click the "exkl. VAT" button in webshops to get the correct price for me.
3) VAT aside there are still considerable discrepancies between US and overseas pricing. I'm perfectly OK with that since I'm aware of the added costs, possible import duties etc. The only thing I've questioned with regards to the discrepancy is the fact that Apple's exchange-rate based price adjustments is a one way street, they're quick to jack up the price when the USD is doing well, but deaf blind and dumb when it's the other way around. This is inconsistent with the practices of many other US based hi-tech hardware manufacturers who employ a more dynamic and fair approach to rate fluctuations.
One thing that has always surprised me about the VAT in Europe, though, is why egalitarian Europe would embrace a high rate on the most regressive form of taxation.
You'd think so, but it's compensated by sharply progressive taxation on other fronts. Also, VAT (in Sweden anyway) is progressive; essentials like transportation and food have a lower VAT (6% and 12%, respectively), while the highest rate of 25% is reserved for "hardware" like electronics, cars, furniture etc. If the poor in Sweden are being hit hard, it certainly doesn't show in the statistics; Sweden retains the #1 spot on UN's Human Poverty Index, meaning that when you consider factors such as health, average life span, % of population below 50% of median income, long-term unemployment, average educational level, Sweden is ranked as the best place to live. Or rather, the place where the largest percentage of the population has a decent life. It's expensive to keep the entire population well educated, healthy and well fed, but there are benefits as well - the population is more adaptive to changes and resilient to changes in the economy. If you allow a large chunk of the population to become poor and poorly educated if not illiterate, they will have more health problems (expensive) and won't adjust to rapid changes in skills demand (=unemployment/welfare, also expensive) and generally passive and helpless. That's the kind of baggage you don't want when a recession hits.
yup the german goverment is so stupid and in the pocket of the media industry that they add a extra fee on everything that could be used to view media content like TV.
You know that's not really the reason they added this tax though. The governments are always on the lookout to add more taxes in general, but they have to think up semi-plausible excuses to do it. This is one such semi-plausible excuse. It's just general taxation with an arbitrary label on it. I'm sure they love the whole climate hysteria thing, that's a veritable goldmine. Fuel taxes, CO2 taxes, excessive breathing taxes...
