Pricing: Apple Defies Australian Government 440
daria42 writes "This week it was revealed that Apple has still not responded to Australia's Federal Parliament on the issue of why the prices of its products are significantly higher in Australia than they are in the US, five months after the query was first raised by a member of parliament from Australia's governing Labor party. Apple has refused to issue a statement on the matter or even acknowledge the issue. What will it take to get Apple to open up — a national enquiry?"
Retail Shipping... (Score:2, Insightful)
And Apple very cleverly takes advantage of that fact?
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go back and try again.
The reason they charge it is because they CAN charge it. It is called the Apple tax on top of the Better Beaches'n'beer tax.
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The reason they charge it is because they CAN charge it.
OMG capitalism!
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Wrong. I can buy in the US and get it shipped here and still save anywhere from 10-30%. go back and try again.
Ok... it's because you are willing to pay more to buy the stuff in Australia rather than have it shipped from overseas.
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Wrong. I can buy in the US and get it shipped here and still save anywhere from 10-30%.
go back and try again.
1. Buy ipads from newegg.com
2. Get them shipped to Auz.
3. Sell them
4. Profit!
If you can make a profit doing that you should be doing it.
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Are you sure it isn't differences in licensing agreements from the RIAA's of the world?
Apple fought tooth and nail to keep US prices low. But somehow I suspect that their deal mainly covers US sales and AU sales might even pass through another copyright royalties board before they can sell to you. This is different then buying in the US and shipping it because the sale is happening in the US in that case where it's happening in AU in the other.
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Digital online goods are generally priced at 200-400% the US domestic cost. It's got nothing to do with shipping. it's simply price gouging a smaller market, because the smaller market has no alternative.
Well of course products in Oz are more expensive (Score:5, Funny)
Wouldn't you raise the price of your products if you had to sell each and every one of them with a Velcro pad to hang upside down?
Increased costs (Score:5, Funny)
It costs Apple extra money to prepare products for the Australian market by turning everything umop apisdn.
Re:Increased costs (Score:5, Interesting)
That's very clever to have done that upside down thing with plain text.
There are many products that are overly expensive in Australia compared with other countries. A few example based on the US market, which I'm most familiar with. I can buy a Leatherman at Walmart for about $60, or from a retailer in Australia for more like $200. A $25 cheap rifle scope from Walmart retails for about $60 in .au. Similar markups apply for other consumer optics - binoculars, small telescopes etc. Software, books, music, all these cost more in AUD than the equivalent in USD on the US market, even though the AUD is worth more.
I support a general inquiry into price gouging like this, but limiting the inquiry specifically to Apple products seems like publicity whoring, or a ploy to make the problem sound more isolated than it really is.
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Food costs more in Australia than the US., just economic reality. Maybe the government should investigate that. Or why real estate costs several times morein Australia.
Re:Increased costs (Score:4, Insightful)
And when Aussies starting to buy stuff online, bypassing their overpriced supply chain, the retails say the internet needs to fixed to make prices match their overpriced ones.
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Yeah, we can't stop laughing over here at what you lot are doing with our Ugg hats...
Amazing what a threat can do (Score:5, Informative)
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Cool. This will not change the prices, but maybe Apple can help the Australian government understand theirneconomy.
Everything costs more in Australia (Score:4, Insightful)
Why attack Apple for pricing products so they make the same profit in every market per person? There's no reason why a $39,000 Nissan 350Z (I had a 2008GT) should cost $67,000 AUD. Everything costs more over here. This is made worse now that the USD is less valuable then the AUD.
I'd say the Australian government should be going after the automotive industry and many others to lower their prices and cost of living substantially. It doesn't cost that much to put a car on a boat and ship it. Japan to the US? (Low US price). Japan to Australia (shorter distance) (price almost double US model)
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Not to mention ARIA and their cd price fixing in Australia.
Maybe throw in the computer game industry and their insistence that top shelf games in Australia must cost $89 ($91USD).
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Re:Everything costs more in Australia (Score:4, Informative)
If it makes you feel better, you're not alone in the price gouging stupidity.
2011 Camaro 2SS MSRP:
USA: $34,420
CAN: $42,035 -> Adjusted: $42,437 USD
Difference: $8000
The kicker: The car is assembled in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
So don't feel too bad, my upside-down friend. Us stupid Canucks can't even get shit we build in our own backyard for the same price as the Americans.
All hail globalization... or whatever.
Re:Everything costs more in Australia (Score:4, Informative)
In Australia, a 2010 Camaro SS with 2,900km on it is $118,000 (USD=$123,000)
2011 SS starts at $127,500 AUD.
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It's quite simple. The companies want to ship directly from China to Australia. However, the cheap Chinese workes only see "ship to AUS" and read that as "American United States". So every component has to go to America first. Once there, expensive, inefficient and union-protected workers have to unload it, load it again and finally ship it to Australia.
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Higher prices = higher VAT returned per sale...
However if the prices are cheaper, what do you think people will do with the money they saved? Chances are they will just buy something else, so the total VAT works out much the same.
On the other hand, if UK prices are massively higher than other places, people will just import and pay no VAT at all (or pay it to a foreign country instead).
It's not just apple (Score:2, Informative)
It's not just apple that have significantly higher prices in Australia. I would love to buy an Alienware M17x laptop.
Price in AUD $2499 (inc GST) = $2250 ex GST. Price in the US $1499. Given that the exchange rate is about 1 AUD = 0.97 US the comparison is ridiculous.
The cost difference is about $800, I can fly from Sydney to LA for about a thousand.
It's not just technology either - A Triumph Thunderbird Storm motorbike would be in my garage now if I could get one at a comparable US price. The US one is
Re:It's not just apple (Score:4, Insightful)
Have you ever stopped to think there might be hidden taxes in those prices? I mean either there is some AU import cabal sitting there making everything more expensive, or internal politics has taxed the items to some degree by either requiring a direct tax because of emissions, or warranty services or whatever.
My neighbor purchased some English car and had it imported to the US. It cost him close to 6k US on top of shipping to clear customs and then another 3k to get an inspection and US title for it. Now that's an individual but I know there are things pertaining to companies like Ford has a motor that is more cleaner and efficient then anything they sell in the US (*at least as of a few years ago) but only sells it in Europe because some regulation and union or rights licensing contract prohibits its sale in the US.
Re:It's not just apple (Score:4, Interesting)
But can you afford to fly back LA for your first warranty claim? Your second ?
That's why instead, Dell have to put a support team on the ground in Australia for a far small customer base, pay local taxes, pay accountants to be familiar with local requirements and make filings, pay for space, communications infrastructure, warehousing, etc.
And they do all of that to a fairly remote, fairly small consumer base.
That's where a lot of costs come from.
Sales tax (Score:4, Informative)
And if one product is too expensive, people are free to buy from competitors.
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A $200 item in the states, purchased in a shop or online from a website with a B&M in the state you're shipping to, will cost $200 +x%
A £300 item in the UK will cost... £300
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But it's not shown in advertising. While in Britain (and most of EU AFAIK) price in advertising must include sales tax.
It depends on whether the market being sold to is mainly consumer or business. Prices for businesses are usually exclusive of VAT, whereas consumers' prices have to be what they actually pay. For most products, you don't see this in action because businesses tend to buy from different suppliers to consumers; about the only place where people notice it is with computing equipment and only at some stores (where both prices will be given, typically one in larger type than the other depending on the profile of
Re:Sales tax (Score:4, Informative)
Sure, but VAT is added to the posted sales price, while U.S. sales tax is added afterwards. So, for example, in Australia (with a 10% VAT), an iPad listed for $579 includes $52 in VAT as part of that price, with the base price of the product $526. In the United States, the posted price is $499, but then when you take it to the register they the sales tax--so if you were to buy your iPad in Glendale where sales tax is 8.75%, you get a receipt saying "$499 + 43.66 (tax) = $542.66."
So posted prices in the United States are always significantly lower than posted prices in countries where the VAT is added to the price tag prior to sale, such as Australia or the U.K.
Once you factor out that price, the exchange rate between Australia has fluctuated around 10%--from a low of AUS$0.9843 to AUS$1.105 per US$1. Because Apple tends to want a fixed price (and not adjust prices every time the exchange rate fluctuates) they fixed the price. And apparently it's only been within the last year that the U.S. dollar has been week against the Australian dollar.
If you look at the price difference in the base price of the iPad, the price difference (US$499 verses AUS$526), this suggests the price was set at an exchange rate of AUS$0.9480, which is in-line with historic exchange rates until around September of 2010, when the dollar significantly weakened.
There. I just answered the Australian Government's request for information. Phfffffffft!
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Additional to VAT there are also import duties on many products being brought into Europe. The rate depends on type of product.
I never see anyone factoring in import duty differences between US and Europe.
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The 20% VAT claim has been used to justify ripping us off for decades, but the simple fact is that 20% is comparable to most western European countries, as are strong consumer protection laws. It also doesn't explain why something like a song or TV show purchased on iTunes is more expensive.
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Let me be clear: the choice is to pay 60% (for example) too much to the company who sells the product you're in the market for, or go without it entirely.
If you are willing to pay the price, then the price is clearly not "too much" is it?
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There is, check on ebay.co.uk... Lots of sellers bulk buy from the US and sell them in the UK.
It's all tech companies, not just Apple (Score:3)
From an article linked higher up in these comments:
Ed Husic, the member for Chifley, called out Apple in parliament this week and demanded a broader inquiry by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into rampant price discrimination by technology companies in Australia.
Video games are regularly 60 per cent more expensive in Australia, while we also pay hundreds of dollars more for laptops and in some cases almost double what Americans pay for software from companies like Adobe and Microsoft.
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Agree. It's something you see commonly done by US companies, I see it all the time and Apple is partaking in this practice wholesale. Take for example a Macbook. Goes for $999 in the US. Same laptop in the EU? 999€, despite the fact the US dollar to Euro exchange rate is much stronger in favor of the Euro (currently ~45% stronger). Yes, VAT is included in Europe, but how do you explain the extra 20-25% markup? It surely isn't import duties. I say it's fat profits for American companies doing business i
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Do they ship to Australia from the US or China? (Score:2)
Do Apple products go through the US to go to Australia, or are they shipped directly from Hon Hai in Shenzen, where they're made?
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Direct from China, at least my iPhone was.
Consumer protection laws? (Score:2, Insightful)
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I can tell that for Greece, part of the EU with the 2-year mandatory warranties, Apple DOES NOT give you a second year. Yes, it is illegal, yes people have managed to fix their products by taking them to court, yes Apple products are more expensive here anyway. And yes, I am sure Apple is betting on fan loyalty to get away with this.
If you can read Greek, for example you can see the 1 year warranty clearly stated e.g. here: http://www.plaisio.gr/Laptop-Netbook-GPS/Notebook/Laptop/Apple-Macbook-Pro-MC700GR.h [plaisio.gr]
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I certainly prefer a simple statutory guarantee to a warranty with weasely fine print. As you say, the vast majority of products (from reasonable manufacturers) do not break so the cost of a statutory guarantee to t
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And yes... that 2 year warranty on the software lasts as long in Australia as it does in the US.
All the way until you take delivery.
Paying twice the price for Dreamweaver download in AU vs US ... no excuses make that right.
Not an issue for me... some how I got the upgraded bug fixes for free, no idea how that happened.
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I disagree. The so-called "forced" warranties you quote are needed because companies have tried many times in the past to dump cheap crap on the consumer that breaks before it should. It does not increase the cost of quality, it means the company can't make crap that breaks easily and pawn it off on the unknowing consumer and then claim it's "out of warranty" when it breaks. When you buy something, you have a reasonable expectation that it will last X years. There is no reason a TV, computer or other electr
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Re:Consumer protection laws? (Score:4, Insightful)
A consumer buys a plasma television for $6000. It stops working two years later. The supplier tells the consumer they have no rights to repairs or another remedy as the television was only under the manufacturerâ(TM)s warranty for 12 months. The supplier says the consumer should have bought an extended warranty, which would have given five yearsâ(TM) cover. A reasonable consumer would expect more than two yearsâ(TM) use from a $6000 television. Under the consumer guarantees, the consumer therefore has a statutory right to a remedy on the basis that the television is not of acceptable quality.
The supplier must provide a remedy free of charge. This may also amount to misleading a consumer about their rights.
IANAL, but this seems pretty cut and dry to me, if an expensive computer "breaks"(even if it is the fault of the user), then the company is responsible for replacing it, even if the original warranty has run out.
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IANAL, but this seems pretty cut and dry to me, if an expensive computer "breaks"(even if it is the fault of the user), then the company is responsible for replacing it, even if the original warranty has run out.
This law reads very much like in the UK and I am sorry to say, but you are wrong. If the consumer is responsible for the damage (through misuse or inappropriate use) then the warranty does not hold. The length of protection granted by the law will also vary on exactly what has been bought.
As to costs, that can also vary. The consumer can be responsible for transport and labour. It depends on what was bought and what (if any) history of the dispute.
Finally, it matters not one whit what the manufacturer a
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They are not warranties, but statutory guarantees [accc.gov.au]. Most states in Australia used to have similar laws in this area but since 1st Jan this year they have been harmonised across the whole country.
The requirements are not entirely explicit, ie it is not explicitly defined that a product costing $X should last $Y years, they are largely couched in terms of what is "reasonable".
Canucks & kiwis get price gouged as well. (Score:2)
Price gouging in Canada is not as bad as our southern friends, since it is a short drive to the USA border, but is still significant. My favourite gouge are recently printed books and magazines that show both the American and Canadian prices, with the Canadian prices 25-40% higher in dollar values, even through the Canadian dollar has been worth more than an American dollar for some time.
It is justified, because Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have "small" markets, so they have to charge a premium for d
Re:Canucks & kiwis get price gouged as well. (Score:5, Insightful)
Case in point, "the average price of a movie ticket in Australia for 2010 was AUD$12.98. In the United States, though, the average ticket cost just $US7.89 (approximately AUD$7.40)" [1]
Having said all that, I don't mind the government looking out for it's people who are being priced gouged.
Oh, and any American who thinks this kind of complaint seems a bit whiny (and are under the delusion that there is much a consumer can do about it) you all squealed like stuck pigs when your gasoline hit $4 a gallon for goodness sakes.
[1] http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/shopping-and-legal/shopping/cinema-rip-offs/page/do-the-math.aspx [choice.com.au]
Re:Canucks & kiwis get price gouged as well. (Score:4, Informative)
This is of course entirely true, and most of us have been simply importing instead (the UK is actually the best value source right now). We can usually save 30-60% by buying online & overseas, even after shipping (bypassing the 10% GST helps too).
The problem with this is the local retailers are put in an impossible position. Their sales drop drastically, but their margins are already thin. All the excess profit on what sales they get go to the local distributor, or more often to the US publisher who sells to the distributor at an inflated price. The retailer could of course buy from overseas retail outlets themselves, import in bulk and still have plenty of room to undercut their peers (and some do), but this jeopardises their relationship with their suppliers (who frequently also sell things the retailer can't import so easily).
Result: sales slide, the local economy suffers, and the publishers usually blame it all on Australians being a bunch of lousy pirates.
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Indeed, the same extends to most markets. Even for digital-only distribution items. It's not uncommon to see software in Aus/NZ priced at 3-4x the American cost, taking into account currency differences. Take the EA Origin store for example. Almost any software on it costs 3x as much to buy "down under", on the equivalent store (eg, EA Origin NZ store vs EA Origin US store).
The common hillbilly reply to this situation is "well if you don't like it then make your own software!" Really? A company whose entire
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Well, don't forget that for copyrighted works, there is often different laws to some degree across international borders and in some places, the copyright royalties requirements might be different.
This is a reason why sited like Hulu which doesn't charge to view block some foreign IP addresses.
So it's likely that it's a lot more complicated then it appears on the surface.
Price Discrimination (Score:2)
It's called price discrimination [wikipedia.org]. It means people who have more elasticity of demand pay a lower price than people who have less elasticity.
This is how cars are priced differently through the negotiation process, why people pay different amounts for airline tickets, and until the recent advent of mass pricing, almost every transaction in the marketplace was a haggle.
Price discrimination helps to maximize seller's surplus, thus making it profitable to serve those with more elastic demand with lower prices.
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Not exactly 100% true, take pharmaceuticals for instance. I live in a country with a higher cost of living (and arguably better quality of life) than the US, but with MUCH lower pharmaceuticals costs. Yes, we have socialized healthcare, but I know for a fact the the _total_ drug cost is still significantly lower that even what the consumer pays in the US. Our co-pay is typically less than 10€ and there is even a maximum cap per annum, above which you pay nothing.
At least in the US, you seem to be willi
Aren't Apple prices everywhere higher than in US? (Score:2)
Looking at europe prices are roughly 25% above the US prices.
However I did not check recently as currency fluctuations may change this difference significantly.
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Looking at europe prices are roughly 25% above the US prices.
A fair chunk of that is probably due to different rules on where to put sales taxes on the bill (i.e., are they applied before the price quoted to you or after). You've got to compare what people are actually charged when they do a full purchase, not what price is advertised. Cross-jurisdiction comparisons are difficult.
So only a 5–10% gouge. (Hard to say how much of that is due to currency handling issues. Probably not as much as all that; bigger volumes let you get better prices for that sort of thi
Out of touch... (Score:4, Insightful)
The cost of everything is higher in Australia. Locally grown food costs more in Australia then it does in the US. The US government per diem is 2.5x higher in Sydney than New York City. This is not because the US government wants everyone to have more fun in Sydney.
How can they be so out of touch. It costs more to do everything because the cost of living is higher. Learn something about your own economy. Why should Apple be required to explain Australian economics to parliment. It is funny when Internet co mentors make these senseless claims. It is just scary when officials that should know better do it.
Re:Out of touch... (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps you could explain to AU iTunes customers how the cost of living adds 70% to the price of bits that happen to pass through Apple's servers before being sent here? There's no AU bricks-and-mortar or even AU staff required.
In many cases, cost of living has nothing to do with it. It used to be that $1USD ~= $1.50AUD so Australian iTunes prices were set accordingly, then when the exchange rate levelled, the US executives chortled over the extra 50% profits they were getting for zero extra cost. So long as people keep paying it, they'll keep charging it.
Because it costs more. (Score:2)
Simple answer (Score:2)
The elasticity of demand curve for Apple products peaks at a higher point in Australia than in the U.S. This is how all prices are set. Charge more and you lose enough sales to lose money; charge less and demand doesn't increase proportionally. Maybe remedial economy 101 for the labor party would also help them understand why there aren't any large, successful technology companies in Australia.
So what - have you looked at VMware lately? (Score:2)
If you pay in US$, they want $189.00
Currently AU$1.00 buys US$1.03 according to the TV, making that approximately AU$183.00
Click on the pull down option on th VMware store to convert the pricing to AU$, it becomes AU$277.00 - a markup of AU$94.00 or approximately 50%.
I've rung and asked them why the difference - and got some bulls**t about there being annual price adjustments based on the current currency conversion. The only problem is the l
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I've rung and asked them why the difference - and got some bulls**t about there being annual price adjustments based on the current currency conversion. The only problem is the last time that AU$ was low enough for that was back in the 1980's.
18 March 2009, actually. (Last time the exchange rate was greater than 1.5:1.)
Defies? Seems more like "Ignores". (Score:2)
Defiance strikes me as being relatively active. This seems very passive. I think "Ignores" would be a better description. Defiance also conjures up images of insubordination, which would imply that a single member of the Australian Parliament is Apple's superior. Again, I'm not sure it fits. [That's not a dig on Parliament, just how I see things. It's not like they're blowing off a direct subpoena from a governing body to which they submit.]
In fact, the more I think about it, the more it sounds like some po
MP is not PM (Score:5, Informative)
Because it's tiny (Score:2)
Why are prices higher in Australia than the United States? Because it's a very small market. The entire population of Australia (22.5 million) is only somewhat more than the population of the York York City metro area (19 million). Plus extra shipping and handling costs. It's the same problem that we have here in Canada. Despite being right next door we frequently pay somewhat more for products than they do in the USA.
Re:If you don't like it (Score:4, Insightful)
Normally I'd agree. If people don't like the price being set by Apple they should shop elsewhere. For hardware this does have limitations however as certain sectors 'require' apple products and as such you have to pay an unfair price. If your then running a business out of Australia this makes you less able to compete in a free market.
The simple solution should be to allow purchases of products anywhere in the world at a common price and then you pay the shipping.
The problem with that solution is warranty returns/service.
HOWEVER what mainly started the inquest into the price difference wasn't actually hardware it was itunes and the price of music.
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Like EAs new Origin store, it forces its localisation on you for your market. I had to Google Cache up the US store just to try and find out what was happening with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bypassing the localisation added another 5 seconds to my browsing time, not cool.
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Oh, hey, yeah.
And while we are at it, lets revoke the licenses for the noise filter tech used in 802.11n (owned by CSIRO, a federally funded research outfit) while we are at it, well, okay, we will revoke it only from apple.
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In the example of a club where young women get in free or get free drinks, they are not actually getting something entirely free that the men are paying for. They are providing a service in exchange for entry and/or drinks instead of handing over cash. The service? Attracting men to the club who the club hope will spend silly amount of money to compete with each other to try impress the girls.
I can see some people being offended by it (showing off your body in exchange for the value o
Re:If you don't like it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If you don't like it (Score:5, Insightful)
>>You mean like the Galaxy Tab 10.1? It's barred from import into Australia due to Apple successfully winning an injunction against it due to patent disputes.
And you say iPad prices went up, too??
Man, that's a weird coincidence.
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They must make up for all the money they spent bribing the officials. Or did you expect them to pay for bribes out of their own pocket?
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And you say iPad prices went up, too??
No, they were always high. Now there's just no incentive for them to come down.
Re:If you don't like it (Score:4, Informative)
You mean like the Galaxy Tab 10.1? It's barred from import into Australia due to Apple successfully winning an injunction against it due to patent disputes.
Until the 1st of September. The hearing is on the 29th of August and Samsung feels so confident of wining they've announced the release for the following Thursday (late night shopping day in Oz). Realistically with the standard of evidence Apple have been presenting, Samsung couldn't win easier if they were represented by Charlie Sheen on Winning Juice.
Re:If you don't like it (Score:4, Interesting)
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Who mentioned the iPad? (Score:5, Insightful)
Certainly not TFA. My beef is with the iTunes store - to buy an album here costs AU$17.00 (US$17.63), a huge hike over the $10 price the US enjoys.
If I wanted an iPad, I could always import one from the US, but I can't buy an album from the US iTunes store; they refuse to sell it to me, which is a restriction of trade under Australian law, and something the ACCC has ruled is illegal, at least when applied to physical music media like CDs.
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Certainly not TFA. My beef is with the iTunes store - to buy an album here costs AU$17.00 (US$17.63), a huge hike over the $10 price the US enjoys.
If I wanted an iPad, I could always import one from the US, but I can't buy an album from the US iTunes store; they refuse to sell it to me, which is a restriction of trade under Australian law, and something the ACCC has ruled is illegal, at least when applied to physical music media like CDs.
Can't you just proxy your connections though the US?
Virtual servers are cheap or you can buy VPN service.
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It's possible to use an AU credit card to buy US iTunes gift cards, or even to ask a friend to buy/download/send, but it's still a restriction of trade.
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If they're so eager to try and fix the problem, why have they been conspicuously ignoring all the complaints, even Parliamentary demands for comments?
I don't really blame Apple; I realise publisher contracts are not easy to change. They don't appear to be trying all that hard though, considering the legendary leverage they're reputed to enjoy with the publishers. As usual, it's the smaller, less vocal markets that lose out, despite the levelling powers of the internet.
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They have to obey regulations but (Score:2)
...Australia has treaty obligations, most notably with the WTO, and taxes and forcible price settings are probably against one of the trade rules Australia agreed to. Forcing a set price can probably be interpreted as a form of tariff setting and may be interpreted as a breach of Free Trade rules by some clever shark^H^H^H^H^H lawyer
Re:Sad part (Score:5, Funny)
Payback is a bitch. That's what you get for sending us Rupert Murdoch.
Re:Sad part (Score:4, Funny)
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You guys should of fed him to a dingo when you had the chance.
Re:Free Market? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, many Australians do import from Hong Kong and it is relatively painless as long as you make sure you are using a reputable importer. Even with the cost of shipping from Hong Kong and the importer's mark up, you still often only pay 2/3rds of what it would cost from an Australian retailer.
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The free market also allows for consumers to form various buyer's clubs and other consumer groups. In this case, that club is called "the government".
If "the government" doesn't get a satisfactory response, it can decide on a national boycott of Apple products.
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It's expensive to import individual items. As an importer myself, I klow it's not expensive to import in bulk. Adds about 10 cents per item (small goods), whereas manufacturers mark up prices x2. It's purely a profit gouge, because manufacturers know smaller countries simply CANNOT manufacture the same range of goods themselves.
Besides, the US can't produce iPhones competitively themselves anyway. The US imports them. The difference is they then sell them twice as much to some countries as to others. If you
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Uh, no. If you bothered to read the article you'd see that almost everything technology related carries this sort of price hike over there.
As for why they're singling out Apple, you gotta start somewhere to find out why they're all doing this I guess.
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I'm no fan of Apple, but what business is it of the governments what price I put on my goods. If people don't like my price, they're free to buy someone else's.
"Maximized profit" isn't a human right. Also, governments are supposed to look out for the people of their country as well as the best interests of the country. If a foreign company is adding 30-50% to the price of their products exported to your country just for the hell of it then this would be bad in the eyes of most people and politicians.
There are lots of silly things like this, I remember a couple of years ago when I was looking to purchase a new copy of Adobe Photoshop. The English-language version w
Re:Ban further imports (Score:4, Insightful)
Refuse sale and seize all their products under government jurisdiction until they answer. I'm sure that would get their attention.
That might work under a fascist state or even a communist one but last I heard Australia was still capitalist and AFAIK Apple hasn't actually broke any laws doing this.
Re: (Score:2)
Why do Australians pay more for everything else than Americans? Food grown in Australia costs Australians more to buy then Food grown in America costs Americans.
Re: (Score:2)
It's hardly the same thing. India has multiple issues that don't exist in the US or Australia.
Just so it's clear I'm talking about corruption, bribes, poor infrastructure, theft, and the additional costs of selling something that only appeals to a tiny percentage of the population.