Steve Jobs Weighs in on iPad International Pricing and Taxes

[aksmax]

Don't forget the crazy volatility of exchange rates. It can shift 20% or more in a 12 month period. Any "premium" can quickly turn into a "discount" when companies convert global earnings into their home currency.

It's also a factor in region coding of DVDs, games and software. Especially now that online sales make it so easy to order from other countries. Savvy consumers can quickly erode margins by buying from countries with an exchange rate advantage.

And it's something completely out of the control of the companies and very hard to predict. A price cushion makes sense to me.

 

[CanadianPCUser]

I'm going to agree with SJ here. He wasn't rude at all and was right to tell the person to get educated.

Responding with "cry more" would have my go to rude response

I'm sorry but he was rude there was not need to say what he said the way he said it. He was very unprofessional & all it did was make both him & the company look stupid & made him look uneducated,maybe he should go & get some extra education on how to be a professional as this is unacceptable when you are in the public eye like Steve Jobs is.

A proper response would have been. "Do to the fact that in some countries sales taxes are higher than those in the USA the prices may sometimes be higher that those in the USA."

That is just one response he could have come up with not the half baked one he gave out. Sorry if this ruffles the feathers of the Mac users but I call it like I see it.

 

[CanadianPCUser]

I'm tired of these arrogant people emailing Steve Jobs directly to complain about things - what makes these people think they should email him about stupid stuff like this?

Sigh.. I miss the good old days when stupid people didn't buy Apple products..

OMG dude all I can say is wow you call other stupid & you have the nerve to come up with something so stupid yourself. I am ashamed you are from Canada from that one statement you made.

Your tired of people emailing Jobs. Really! Really? I hate to say it but Jobs brought this all on himself by making the whole Mac experience the way it is. He wants full control of everything so maybe people expect him to be able to control the prices as well. I honestly do not know what goes on in peoples heads when they email a CEO of a company & expect things to change by doing that. I do know that they do not deserve a rude & disrespectful reply back from the head of the company. If he can not reply back in a respectful manner then maybe he should not reply back at all or at least hire people to do that for him so he does not look like such a idiot. But hey a fanboy will always think oh that was the right thing for him to do as always.

I do not hate Mac users or Mac products what I do hate is those that are so stuck in the A___e soup that they can not see right from wrong.

These are just my opinions sorry if it ruffles feathers Thanks later

 

[MacFly123]

17.5%??? OUCH!

And they have the nerve to call it "Value Added Tax"? lol!

 

[ct2k7]

17.5%??? OUCH!

And they have the nerve to call it "Value Added Tax"? lol!

Heck, you didn't see: Tax Deducted: £31,104.48 on your bank balance just a few mins ago.

 

[MacFly123]

Heck, you didn't see: Tax Deducted: £31,104.48 on your bank balance just a few mins ago.

You are in Europe and they just directly withdraw your taxes from your bank account? Is that what you are saying?

Welcome to the European Union!

 

[Anuba]

17.5%??? OUCH!

And they have the nerve to call it "Value Added Tax"? lol!

17,5% is nothing. It's the lowest in the EU, apart from a couple of tourist islands like Cyprus and Canary Islands, plus Luxembourg.

25.5% VAT: Iceland*
25% VAT: Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Norway*
23% VAT: Finland, Greece, Croatia*
22% VAT: Poland
21.5% VAT: Ireland
21% VAT: Belgium, Lavtia, Lithuania
20% VAT: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Rep., Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Slovenia
19.6% VAT: France (thanks for making it easy to calculate)
19% VAT: Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Romania
18% VAT: Spain, Malta
17.5% VAT: UK

(Luxembourg 15%, Cyprus 15%, Madeira and Azores 15%, Canary Islands 5%)

*=not EU member

 

[Hurda]

But here, our bridges don't just collapse and stuff, to put it into perspective.

 

[MacFly123]

17,5% is nothing. It's the lowest in the EU, apart from a couple of tourist islands like Cyprus and Canary Islands, plus Luxembourg.

25.5% VAT: Iceland*
25% VAT: Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Norway*
23% VAT: Finland, Greece, Croatia*
22% VAT: Poland
21.5% VAT: Ireland
21% VAT: Belgium, Lavtia, Lithuania
20% VAT: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Rep., Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Slovenia
19.6% VAT: France (thanks for making it easy to calculate)
19% VAT: Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Romania
18% VAT: Spain, Malta
17.5% VAT: UK

(Luxembourg 15%, Cyprus 15%, Madeira and Azores 15%, Canary Islands 5%)

*=not EU member

Are you European? How do you people tolerate that? I thought the US was bad!

 

[ct2k7]

You are in Europe and they just directly withdraw your taxes from your bank account? Is that what you are saying?

Welcome to the European Union!

Yep, I get interest and tax for stuff in the bank. Though the interest is marginally higher than the tax for some reason - it should be much higher.

 

[Hurda]

Are you European? How do you people tolerate that? I thought the US was bad!

Having comprehensive healthcare systems, which deserve that title, helps easing the financial pain. And proper roads.

 

[Master Chief]

Apple apparently severely underrates the Euro because $499 is 384,76 Euro – at todays insane low rate of 1.2969 – the Euro was rated above 1.35 for over a year, with months of a rate above 1.40 and even topping 1.5120 in December, which would qualify for a low price of only 330 Euro (excluding tax).

I say this: Anything above 369 before tax is a ripoff.

 

[Master Chief]

Are you European? How do you people tolerate that? I thought the US was bad!

Now look at petrol prices Europe...

 

[ct2k7]

Now look at petrol prices Europe...

Then look at the prices in the UK.

 

[Anuba]

Are you European? How do you people tolerate that? I thought the US was bad!

If you grow up within a certain system you don't wake up every day going "OMG you know what I just realized? We have insane taxes!!". You're thinking about how it would affect you in the context of your particular American life if the government were to slap you with a 25% VAT tomorrow, but you have a completely different economical jigsaw puzzle where that piece wouldn't fit. It has to be viewed in the context of different prices, living costs, wages, insurances etc. In the end you'll find that we too enjoy good food, drive nice cars and watch our 52" TVs, without much to complain about other than noisy neighbors or annoying colleagues at work. It's not like we're sitting on dirt floors in wooden huts waiting for the taxman to stop by.

 

[gnasher729]

A proper response would have been. "Do to the fact that in some countries sales taxes are higher than those in the USA the prices may sometimes be higher that those in the USA."

1. I don't expect Steve Jobs to be polite, but I expect him not to make stupid spelling mistakes.

2. That explanation would be factually wrong. The main difference between US and UK prices is the fact that advertised US prices don't include sales tax, but UK and other European countries have prices with tax included.

3. I very strongly expect Steve Jobs not to come with any wishy washy statements like that. "Prices may sometimes be higher"? That's idiot talk. A statement like that from Steve Jobs, and everyone would think he's lost it.

You don't get it. He represents a company. Thus, he has a duty to either not respond (which is totally fair), or respond politely (even if curt). If it was just Jobs emailing me about a golf game and I was being rude, fine, he can be rude back to me. But that wasn't the case.

The email sent to Jobs _was_ rude. But Steve Jobs doesn't have a duty to be polite. He has a duty to show the world that the CEO of Apple will do whatever it takes to make the company successful and doesn't suffer idiots.

 

[Master Chief]

Then look at the prices in the UK.

Ouch! I wasn't aware of the fuel prices in the UK – never had the pleasure of filling up a tank in the UK. Simply insane!

 

[ct2k7]

Ouch! I wasn't aware of the fuel prices in the UK – never had the pleasure of filling up a tank in the UK. Simply insane!

The VAT rate will rise in the political turmoil, currency is already unstable due to hung parliament.

 

[quantum003]

I love you guys too

Bwah ha ha... I can't believe I registered before you and didn't think to grab that username for myself.

 

[MacFly123]

Having comprehensive healthcare systems, which deserve that title, helps easing the financial pain. And proper roads.

Huh, I didn't know we had bad roads! Ever been to Latin America? Healthcare is a whole different debate haha.

Now look at petrol prices Europe...

Then look at the prices in the UK.

Ya I've heard this.

If you grow up within a certain system you don't wake up every day going "OMG you know what I just realized? We have insane taxes!!". You're thinking about how it would affect you in the context of your particular American life if the government were to slap you with a 25% VAT tomorrow, but you have a completely different economical jigsaw puzzle where that piece wouldn't fit. It has to be viewed in the context of different prices, living costs, wages, insurances etc. In the end you'll find that we too enjoy good food, drive nice cars and watch our 52" TVs, without much to complain about other than noisy neighbors or annoying colleagues at work. It's not like we're sitting on dirt floors in wooden huts waiting for the taxman to stop by.

I understand and I wasn't implying that at all lol! I think taxes are much too high in the US as well!

 

[steviem]

Ouch! I wasn't aware of the fuel prices in the UK – never had the pleasure of filling up a tank in the UK. Simply insane!

I've never had ANY pleasure filling up a tank in the UK either. I'll have pleasure in it when I hire or buy a car in the US though. The fuel prices here (staying with my fiancée in NY) make me see how bad we have it at home...

Anyway, this Copyright tax... Does this mean the German government wants you to download illegally now?!

 

[ct2k7]

I've never had ANY pleasure filling up a tank in the UK either. I'll have pleasure in it when I hire or buy a car in the US though. The fuel prices here (staying with my fiancée in NY) make me see how bad we have it at home...

Anyway, this Copyright tax... Does this mean the German government wants you to download illegally now?!

Do you want me to give you pleasure?

 

[AidenShaw]

I've never had ANY pleasure filling up a tank in the UK either. I'll have pleasure in it when I hire or buy a car in the US though. The fuel prices here (staying with my fiancée in NY) make me see how bad we have it at home...

Have you compared British Rail and the Tube to what we have here in the colonies?

I'd vote for any politician in the US who campaigned for a $1/litre additional petrol tax earmarked for mass transit (both urban and intra-urban).

Unfortunately, the tea partiers and other short-sighted folks would crucify anyone who would propose that.

 

[Master Chief]

I've never had ANY pleasure filling up a tank in the UK either. I'll have pleasure in it when I hire or buy a car in the US though. The fuel prices here (staying with my fiancée in NY) make me see how bad we have it at home...

Anyway, this Copyright tax... Does this mean the German government wants you to download illegally now?!

I can't answer this question (not German; the only thing I like about Germany is the autobahn, when there is no speed limit of 130 KM/H).

 

[aegisdesign]

I understand and I wasn't implying that at all lol! I think taxes are much too high in the US as well!

Taxes in the USA are at an all time low apparently - around 9%. Compare that to most European countries where it's 35-45%.

You might think the USA just isn't taking reducing their deficit seriously.

Have you compared British Rail and the Tube to what we have here in the colonies?

I'd vote for any politician in the US who campaigned for a $1/litre additional petrol tax earmarked for mass transit (both urban and intra-urban).

Unfortunately, the tea partiers and other short-sighted folks would crucify anyone who would propose that.

We've not had 'British Rail' since the early 1990s. It was privatised by the previous bunch of Tory idiots and fares have gone up four-fold and service is worse. The outgoing Labour government was forced to re-nationalise part of it because it became obvious the private sector weren't interested in spending money on new track or safety - just on retail/fleecing opportunities in stations. Now we've got them again, the Tories, I suspect it'll be open season on selling off assets to pay for bankers again.

The tax on petrol here is also sadly not earmarked for getting people out of cars and into better public transport or onto bicycles. That's a bit tricky to fund when you've sold off the public transport to private companies.