Which part of the entire planet do we currently not trade with?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Weak Pound and Hiked Prices Make Apple Macs More Expensive for Brits
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Except you were already trading with the entire planet, there were no limitations on that. You now did make it harder to trade with your main trading partners and have to renegotiate with everybody. How is that a win situation?
But it's cheaper up here--with the current exchange rate it costs $3210 CDN in the States.
For those who say Apple are ripping the UK off:
The high spec 15" rMBP is $2799 in the US before tax
$2799 converts to £2296.14 at the current exchange rate
Add £459.23 VAT to that price
Total: £2755.37
Apple is charging UK customers just £2699.00
So in actual fact, the U.K. price is effectively £56.37 less than the U.S. after taxes. And this doesn't include any import duties that may be applied and taken from Apple's profits.
The high spec 15" rMBP is $2799 in the US before tax
$2799 converts to £2296.14 at the current exchange rate
Add £459.23 VAT to that price
Total: £2755.37
Apple is charging UK customers just £2699.00
So in actual fact, the U.K. price is effectively £56.37 less than the U.S. after taxes. And this doesn't include any import duties that may be applied and taken from Apple's profits.
I bought a macbook today from John Lewis £1049, the same machine at Apple would cost £1249!
The value of the pound has dropped 20%, the value of the mac lineup has increased 20%. That seems fair to me.
As a country we voted to do something silly, leave the EU, I wish we hadn'! I hope that before March, the four politicians who have decided 'they know what's best for us' put their political ambitions aside and start making decisions based on our economic welfare.
I think history will judge May, Johnson, Fox and Davies as four of the most right winged, blinkered, self serving leaders that this country has ever known. I love my country, but I am so worried that the nasty, small minded, xenophobic and ignorant minority are winning the argument, furthermore they are calling themselves the 'centre ground'.
What can we do?
[doublepost=1477810635][/doublepost]
When Switzerland signed a trade deal with China the terms went something like this:
China: we have over a billion people and you have 8million plus. If you let us trade tarif free inyour country for twenty years, we will consider letting you have access to this market tarif free.
Switzerland: ok, yes please, great idea, go ahead, we will talk again in 15 years.
And that took seven years to broker @robotica
We have opened the door to the whole world, time will tell whether they open the world to us. Certainly the EU won't, imagine getting 27 countries to agree a deal just so the Germans can sell us BMWs!
Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
The value of the pound has dropped 20%, the value of the mac lineup has increased 20%. That seems fair to me.
As a country we voted to do something silly, leave the EU, I wish we hadn'! I hope that before March, the four politicians who have decided 'they know what's best for us' put their political ambitions aside and start making decisions based on our economic welfare.
I think history will judge May, Johnson, Fox and Davies as four of the most right winged, blinkered, self serving leaders that this country has ever known. I love my country, but I am so worried that the nasty, small minded, xenophobic and ignorant minority are winning the argument, furthermore they are calling themselves the 'centre ground'.
What can we do?
[doublepost=1477810635][/doublepost]
When Switzerland signed a trade deal with China the terms went something like this:
China: we have over a billion people and you have 8million plus. If you let us trade tarif free inyour country for twenty years, we will consider letting you have access to this market tarif free.
Switzerland: ok, yes please, great idea, go ahead, we will talk again in 15 years.
And that took seven years to broker @robotica
We have opened the door to the whole world, time will tell whether they open the world to us. Certainly the EU won't, imagine getting 27 countries to agree a deal just so the Germans can sell us BMWs!
Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Marmite, PG Tips etc all rising 10% http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...e-of-marmite-by-125pc-weeks-after-tesco-reje/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...ing-pound-supermarkets-products-a7358676.html
Milk to NHS also rising http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hospitals-braced-price-hikes-dairy-9053680
this is interesting because Britain doesn't import milk, but since exports are now 20% more valuable, milk producers are (finally) in a strong enough position to raise prices.
As I mentioned somewhere else carnival Cruises +20% since Brexit
Obviously not all prices jump 20% on day 1, as suppliers work through their inventory, and absorb losses in order not to lose clients. And in any case the pound initially rebounded from its low, so many people must have though this was a temporary correction.
I can't understand why anyone would argue this point, there are no two ways about it if your currency falls sharply, import (and it seems some export) prices must rise in local currency terms. The only other alternative would be for suppliers to sell their goods at a loss. This does happen occasionally - loss leaders by supermarkets and "dumping" by the Chinese etc, even Amazon in order to gain world dominance and destroy competition, but for most companies selling your goods for less than what it costs to produce them (or even at a smaller margin than what you are accustomed to) is a recipe for disaster.
Here is the official CPI https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7g7/mm23 the last blip is due to Brexit
[doublepost=1477824504][/doublepost]
Funnily enough I spend quite a lot of time long at historical exchange rates and, no, I'm afraid the pound doesn't always bounce back, which would explain why it's now at 30 year lows. Yes all currencies have swings but this is different, as you will see from the long term chart starting in 1971 against the dollar (another currency which periodically devalues to get out of trouble), which is pointing in one direction - down hill. If you look at the chart against the other majors - EUR, JPY, CHF the long term picture looks even worse.
http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exch...MM2=10&YYYY2=2016&LARGE=1&LANG=en&CJ=0&MM1Y=0
http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exch...MM2=10&YYYY2=2016&LARGE=1&LANG=en&CJ=0&MM1Y=0
http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exch...MM2=10&YYYY2=2016&LARGE=1&LANG=en&CJ=0&MM1Y=0
http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exch...MM2=10&YYYY2=2016&LARGE=1&LANG=en&CJ=0&MM1Y=0
But it is true that since the period of greater EU harmonisation which accompanied the UK's recent economic successes, it was starting to look like the GBP had stabilised and might even strengthen in the future (as other currencies might want to devalue). But just when everything was going swimmingly, low unemployment, financial crisis behind them, in what will go down as one of the greatest acts of political hubris ever by a country, the UK has managed snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and well and truly shot itself in the foot.
Actually, the UK does import milk. Ours comes from France. Add to that various dairy products, such as cheese, butter and yoghurt and there are a whole load of imports in an area where we ought to be self-sufficient.
As for Macs, check Amazon.co.uk. Particularly Prime items. Very little left in the notebook section at the old prices. There has been a bit of a spending frenzy since the keynote.
As for Macs, check Amazon.co.uk. Particularly Prime items. Very little left in the notebook section at the old prices. There has been a bit of a spending frenzy since the keynote.
These price hikes are only going to force a recession and that in turn means people consume less. Greed from suppliers just makes them lose out in situations like this.
We all hope you're right. Long term we will be fine and furthermore there we be no way of telling whether we are better or worse off.
Consider this: the fat cats have been paid since the 1970s and since that time we have traded and become the 5th wealthiest country in the world. Is that not a sign of progress?
If you examine other trade deals across the country you will find them to be regulated by lawyers and lawsuits. I would rather have trade laws harmonised by the EU than a bunch of schlock lawyers that remain invisible.
It's not good, but from here it appears to be the best of a tricky bunch.
Hmmm, after 4 years, the same Intel-based computer, Windows or Mac, will cost a lot less if it's Windows-based. Macs always cost a lot more despite having the identical hardware, just for a different chassis and modified open source OS. That's no less reality.
So what is "valuable"? Valuable not because of hardware build quality but because of brand name association/perception/belief/faith. Once word broke about all the stinking bugs in the 2011 MBP, people on eBay were unable to sell theirs. It's been enough years now, some sucker will be had by some antisocial jerk that people think should be unregulated so they can screw over anyone and anything they please. No offense, but reality as people want it to be. Until they get screwed over, of course.
Fixed:
The Market: we'll charge what you can bear
Hope is lovely. So is action that actually is solidly and genuinely based to turn hope into reality. Hope is a dream. Anyone can dream. How is it turned into reality?
And when you say "we have just opened the door to the entire planet to trade with" do you mean you guys weren't trading with numerous countries before?!
Economics aren't the only consideration. While prices apparently have gone up, you also get to self-govern. With smart economic choices in the future, the UK can return to a high-value pound, while also maintaining national sovereignty and not having to subsidize social welfare programs in other countries.
Even the base 13" MBA rose £100 to £949 and most retailers are adjusting upwards for this already. In fact, until recently, DSG was offering £100 cashback on these things. We shall look back upon that as a golden era for the foreseeable future.
The idea that Great Britain will be better outside the EU is a nostalgic myth. Great Britain did so well in the 'good old days' partly because it colonised other countries and used slave labour. They can rightfully not do this anymore.
With the rise of new superpowers such as China and India, with very heavy populations and resources, the UK is 65 million people on a small island so it will struggle to compete. The saving grace was the ability to trade freely with neighbouring countries and have free movement of labour. This allowed for the UK to become the financial capital of the EU.
It is a global economy. To be successful, we need to be migration friendly and not ostracise our neighbours. There is no chance that this xenophobic view of the world will in any way lead to successful economic growth.
Know what’s annoying about that, from one of the articles you linked;
Marmite is produced from yeast extract in Burton in the midlands by Unilever, which posted profits of around £2 billion for the first half of 2016.
If the main ingredient is produced here in the UK why the increase? This may be the start of a real buy British push.
All anyone can surely know is that no matter what, this does give the UK at least some chance to wipe certain sections of the slate clean. Whether our PM and government will take advantage of that chance to the fullest extent, who knows.
I am disappointed however it got to this point. The EU was a good idea, but somewhere along the line it got too big for its boots.
Marmite is owned by a European company, they count their profits in Euros, all of a sudden they have dipped by a fair percentage because of the devalueing of sterling. They want the same Profits they must put up prices.
Ford recently announced that their turnover from U.K. Sales has dropped by 400million dollars in the last year, they haven't sold any less but the dollar value has fallen 20%
That's why prices will rise.
It depends. If Ford, Nissan, or any manufacturer produces the majority of their product in the UK it all just got cheaper.
If they're a foreign company using foreign currency the cost of their UK wages bill and any other expenditure just got smaller. If they buy material from within the UK it's cheaper, buying UK steel would be a nice start. It also makes the manufactured products a lot more attractive for overseas buyers because they get more for their money, so good for exports. There is the potential of a double win for manufacturers
Floating currency is a lot more nuanced then most people think. Some consider a strong currency as a sign of national pride and virility, but depending on what your goals are it can be better for it to be valued lower.
If people are so unhappy in the UK as to vote Brexit, the fault lies with your government, not the EU.
"Take back control" is a scam.
That doesn't make sense. You can't divorce the two. If the British were unhappy with immigration policy, for example, their government can't do anything about it while also remaining in the EU.
People would not be blaming foreigners if the government had taken care of the whole UK.