[AG3]

When we got the GST, the bottom of the range mac went down to $2999 aus, now I see the new bottom of the range G4 733 being priced at $3895, and all it has is a MX card and no geforce 3. Australia is the biggest ripoff, they havent learned with buzzle being in millions of $$ dept and slow apple sales, they are just greedy and a ripoff, what an embarressment to tell my firend who was buying his first mac after macworld, what will I tell him...(imac is not an option for DV he wants to do). I will not recommend the new g4's to him...They still havent learned about overcharging in aus!'
Shold be investigated by the commission that deals with fair trading.

I say slow quarters is any again...And rightfully so.
I'm very very disappointed about this, I thought they learned.

You can't blame Apple for high prices in third world countries' currencies that are worth less than plastic hangers.

Get over it.

Yes, a $200 dollar video card in a $3,900 dollar machine! And that's without an ADC monitor, the cheapest of which is the 15" LCD panel at $1,399!

[Chimpmaster]

Spoo, that was an uneducated comment.

Australia is very much a strong country economically. It may be small, but in terms of GDP per capita, world bank ratings, debt ratio per capita and other statistics used to compare nations economies, (inflation, econonomic growth, unemployment, average earnings etc etc) Australia is a world leader.

More australians are on the internet per capita than any other country in the world. We also have the highest no of mobile phones per capita. Get your facts straight - in fact go get an education. There are far too many ignorant Americans out there quite willing to make comments about other nations where they have little or no knowledge.

The USA has severe economic structural problems, including a massive $ debt per capita, heavy reliance on govt subsidies and tarrifs for local industry, massive structural unemployment and a lack of a reasonable welfare system. The gap between rich and poor in the USA continues to grow - a large proportion of American income earners cant even afford to feed their families.

Exchange rates are not a reflection of economic status. The AUstralian dollar was worth more than the US dollar in the 1970's, and was worth 85c US in 1986. Our economy is now stronger than ever, however - We actually had an over-inflated currency, just as the greenback is now. This generally causes a decreases in exports as foreign countries can get them cheaper elsewhere.

Anyway, onto the issue of pricing.

The powermac g4 entry level is $1699 in the USA, and $3799 in Australia. Thats a difference of over $200 US in price when coverted directly ($1 AUS = 0.51 US). Why is this? It would be cheaper to buy one in the states and get it shipped over here. AG3 has a reasonable point.

The top level imac in the US is $1499. In australia it is $3395 (1731 US).

So apple australia are overcharging here. I imagine its simply an economies of scale issue - the more units you sell in one geographic region, the cheaper you can afford to mark the price.

[MacsKickAss]

Ouch Apple Australia seems to be a little crazy. Here in Canada the entry model G4 went up from $2499 to $2599 now (even though its still $1699 US).

Our dollar used to be higher than the US many years ago too. Oh well, things change.[/LIST]

[curmi]

Certainly true that Apple products cost more here. And Apple don't seem to care too much. Basically, we live in Microsoft land here. Hardly anyone even knows what an Apple computer is.

I'm buying a powerbook G4. Well, my boss is. Anyway, he is getting it from the US while he is on business there. It costs around AU$300 more here, and you don't get a free CDWriter.

I want to first state my dissapointment about the Keynote speech. The iMac in its current factor/form is dead, it really is looking older and older. The only promising thing was OS X.1 but that won't be out for another 2 months, oh well.

But too the point, I too cannot understand why it costs extra to purchase a Mac here than it does in the States. I assume that the prices stated in the states includes a Goods & Services Tax of some sort, when we introduced the GST we were supposed to abolish all of the other import tax's and computer were supposed to go down in price.

IN america they cost 1699, 2499, 3499

Is Australia they cost the equivilant of US$1986, 2802 & 3926. What gives?

Side note - has anyone seen how much they charge for extra RAM on the Apple Store as opposed to real world prices. what a joke. For an extra 128 mB they want US$230 in Australia. I can buy it for US$40 in Australia.


Get with the program apple - decent price for a decent machine is all we ask.


One other thing I realised is that cost of living in some American cities is 2x what it is in Australia, so shelling out $2499 for a Mac when your annual wage is US$50 is not a lot, in Australia, forking out US$2802 on a wage of $25000 is. Therefore in "real terms" a Mac costs us an arm and a leg.

What gives, stop flying that Gulfwing and take the bus Steve!

Sorry for this completely unorganised post, I'm still in shock over the MWNY Keynote.

[spectre]

Prices in Canada are pretty damn high too. I just priced out the system that I want to purchase next. Low end 733 g4, striped of everything to the lowest, with a 15inch LCD display comes to $3500 dollers. Granted, the LCD itself costs 1000 dollers so I may end up just getting a 17 inch CRT instead.

[simonjames]

My guess is that the heads of Apple Australia fly first class to Apple HQ (near SF) at least 4 times per year - probably with their wives and families - and stay at first class accomodation. Of course they *have* to do this to stay on top of the every changing product line - hence the overcharging.

Apple execs in the USA are based in Apple's headquarters and therefore don't have expensive international airfares to pay for.

b-t-w "spoo" sounds like a right little tosser - given the writing style I can guess who he really is

Why is there the need to fly to America in the first place,

is Apple not a commputer company?

do they not provide computers powerfull enough to do simple videoconferencing?

You'd think they would be on top of this no wouldn't you.

Does fed ex really cost $US200 to ship a computer from the states in bulk purchases?

Me thinks not!

Still greiving after the lacklustre Keynote.

[icruise]

Originally posted by <Ashamed Aussie>:
<STRONG>
But too the point, I too cannot understand why it costs extra to purchase a Mac here than it does in the States. I assume that the prices stated in the states includes a Goods & Services Tax of some sort, when we introduced the GST we were supposed to abolish all of the other import tax's and computer were supposed to go down in price.

IN america they cost 1699, 2499, 3499

Is Australia they cost the equivilant of US$1986, 2802 & 3926. What gives?</STRONG>

I'm not sure what a Goods and Services Tax is, but the American prices don't include any taxes at all. This is because tax rates differ from state to state. For example, in Illinois, the sales tax is 7.5% (I believe) so the prices you would pay if buying from the Apple Store or from a local retailer would be:

$1826, $2686 and $3761.

It is true that you can purchase from an online retailer who doesn't have operations in your state and not be charged sales tax, but technically you are still supposed to report the purchase and pay the tax to your state (almost no one does this, of course).

The point is, though, that these prices don't seem all that different, once you include the tax and the fact that these are imports. (I'm assuming that in Australia you have something like the British VAT which is included in prices?)

And you're right, the keynote sucked.

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: Icruise ]

[simonjames]

Apple Australia Execs have no need to fly to the States at all - but they still do it and you can bet they don't fly economy.

And aren't most Macs made in Asia? There'd be just as much freight costs getting Apples to the US as there would be to Oz. And Apple-US wouldn't charge RRP to Apple-Australia - they would get it at cost.

Australia always pays more for overseas goods - for any good there is a single importer of the good (whether it be a washing machine, a car or a computer). The importer sets the price that they think the community will bare - why do you think all the taxis in Germany and Switzerland are E Class Mercedes? They're way cheaper in Europe (and the States) than here in Oz. Same goes with Apple Macs - Apple Oz knows that we're willing to pay through the nose to get what we want and they're willing to make us.

And all this protectionism is supported 100% by the government.

[neutrino23]

Here in Japan Apple prices are about equal to those in the US. Depending on fluctuating exchange rates prices here are sometimes less than those of the US for Apple computers. This is odd as things here are usually two to three times higher.

I believe that the Macs for Asian countries are made over here somewhere. Our iMac came from Singapore. I believe that other Mac products are made in Taiwan or Korea. Therefore, shipping charges should not be a factor.

Are there any special requirements for Macs for Australia that could drive up the cost? The voltage is 240VAC but that is just a jumper change for the power supply. I checked my keyboard layouts and found there is an Australian keyboard. Since the market is not large it is more expensive to customize things like the keyboard, manual, packaging and so on. Perhaps that contributes to some of the cost.

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between an Australian keyboard and a US keyboard?

Too bad the price difference werent' a little bigger. It would justify a shopping trip to Hong Kong.

[xenu]

The new price is a joke, but hardly unexpected from
Apple Australia.

Some years back I asked an Apple dealer why prices were so high.
He replied that their largest market - buisness - were prepared
to pay more than the computers were worth. They would be stupid
to bring the prices down.

I don't know if that is still the situation.

However, these current prices do nothing for me, and I am in the
market for a new computer.

[JLL]

Originally posted by Chimpmaster:
<STRONG>The powermac g4 entry level is $1699 in the USA, and $3799 in Australia. Thats a difference of over $200 US in price when coverted directly ($1 AUS = 0.51 US). Why is this? It would be cheaper to buy one in the states and get it shipped over here. AG3 has a reasonable point.

The top level imac in the US is $1499. In australia it is $3395 (1731 US).

So apple australia are overcharging here. I imagine its simply an economies of scale issue - the more units you sell in one geographic region, the cheaper you can afford to mark the price.</STRONG>

Do the Australian prices include Sales Tax? The US prices don't.

I live in a country where the sales tax is 25% so don't bitch too much

Every time a new product is introduced Apple outside the US correct their prices according to the US dollar, and when the dollar goes up, the prices go up, and when the dollar goes down, the prices go down.

Unfortunately we're in a situation where the dollar is up

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by neutrino23:
<STRONG>Here in Japan Apple prices are about equal to those in the US. Depending on fluctuating exchange rates prices here are sometimes less than those of the US for Apple computers. This is odd as things here are usually two to three times higher.

I believe that the Macs for Asian countries are made over here somewhere. Our iMac came from Singapore. I believe that other Mac products are made in Taiwan or Korea. Therefore, shipping charges should not be a factor.

Are there any special requirements for Macs for Australia that could drive up the cost? The voltage is 240VAC but that is just a jumper change for the power supply. I checked my keyboard layouts and found there is an Australian keyboard. Since the market is not large it is more expensive to customize things like the keyboard, manual, packaging and so on. Perhaps that contributes to some of the cost.

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between an Australian keyboard and a US keyboard?

</STRONG>

We don't have a z key

But really, its ridiculous.
I don't need to say anything new, its all been said... I'll just iterate my support...

Oh, and by the way, remember the iMac fiasco? We paid MORE, and we got LESS. The mid range iMac had a different video card (8 meg) to the US/Canada versions.

Brilliant.

[Gulliver64]

The prices are not only a problem in Australia. In the German and Austrian AppleStore increasing RAM from 128MB to 512MB costs 730,- Euro without tax (= 640,- US$). These are extorsionate prices (and most probably even illegal, because Apple has a quasi-monopoly on RAM in their computers. Remember the problems with the last firmware upgrade?). I hope some lawyer picks this up and does something against it!

[Gulliver64]

The prices are not only a problem in Australia. In the German and Austrian AppleStore increasing RAM from 128MB to 512MB costs 730,- Euro without tax (= 640,- US$). These are extorsionate prices (and most probably even illegal, because Apple has a quasi-monopoly on RAM in their computers. Remember the problems with the last firmware upgrade?). I hope some lawyer picks this up and does something against it!

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by Gulliver64:
<STRONG>In the German and Austrian AppleStore increasing RAM from 128MB to 512MB costs 730</STRONG>

$1380 here : |

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: Cipher13 ]

[M�lum]

Originally posted by Gulliver64:
<STRONG>The prices are not only a problem in Australia. In the German and Austrian AppleStore increasing RAM from 128MB to 512MB costs 730,- Euro without tax (= 640,- US$). These are extorsionate prices (and most probably even illegal, because Apple has a quasi-monopoly on RAM in their computers. Remember the problems with the last firmware upgrade?). I hope some lawyer picks this up and does something against it!</STRONG>

You're wrong.

if you want to increase RAM to 512 MB in Germany's Apple Store it costs you DM 956,89 or 489,25 euro or US$ 428
In the USA it costs $400 . The difference is US$28.

Then ad tax (if you cannot reclaim)

Apple has no monopoly on RAM at all, your very very badly informed


BTW, It's confusing if not misleading to mix up AUS$ prices with US$ and CAN$....The differences look much bigger then what they actually are.

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: M�lum ]

[christ]

The UK suffers from similar inequity, with a 25%(ish) surcharge for living outside the US. Why does Apple do this, and then be forced to note that Euro sales are down?

See this thread for the imac numbers.

[Gulliver64]

Malum: Dont call people stupid - learn to read first!

BTW: The prices in the Austrian Store are including tax, in Germany they had a problem until a few minutes ago!

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: Gulliver64 ]

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by M�lum:
<STRONG>BTW, It's confusing if not misleading to mix up AUS$ prices with US$ and CAN$....The differences look much bigger then what they actually are.

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: M�lum ]</STRONG>

AUD = $1380
USD conversion = ~$690

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: Cipher13 ]

[M�lum]

Originally posted by Gulliver64:
<STRONG>Malum: Dont call people stupid - learn to read first!

BTW: The prices in the Austrian Store are including tax, in Germany they had a problem until a few minutes ago!

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: Gulliver64 ]</STRONG>

Did I call you stupid? I checked it again:
You're right, they changed the set up of the page this morning, the price however; 512 RAM is DM 1109,99 or 567 euro which makes US$ 493......
in Austria it is OS 8089,99 or 587,92 euro or US$ 511.61

These figures include tax, so take the US price, ad tax and voil�..

Maybe I should have called you stupid.

But I loved your comment about Germany