[michaelb]

Okay, order up some cheese and a bottle of red:

The pricing in Australia seems to blatantly ignore the improvements in the exchange rate. Based on US prices, the local price of the entry-level 12" should be:

1599 / 0.65 * 1.1 = $2,706 inc GST.

Actual price = $3,099 inc GST.


Not happy Jan.

[DVD Plaza]

That $1599 price you're comparing is the new price drop that occurred in the US under 24 hours ago - the Australian price usually drops a day or two later (so expect it to drop either today or tomorrow).

[DVD Plaza]

Correction, looks like the AUS prices went down overnight.

[cc_foo]

The pricing in Australia seems to blatantly ignore the improvements in the exchange rate. Based on US prices, the local price of the entry-level 12" should be:

1599 / 0.65 * 1.1 = $2,706 inc GST.

Actual price = $3,099 inc GST.


[/B]

All I can say is that the education price of the entry level is less painful: A$2789.60

With a 3 year warranty too.

The Australian price prior to yesterday's price drop was ridiculously high, given the A$ has strengthened against the US$ over a period of time. Now it's much more reasonable.

I suppose too many Australians felt like you did, and brought their business elsewhere.

By the way glad to see that someone at DVDplaza.com.au uses Macs. That price crawler is great!

[thirsty]

I Bought a 15" Powerbook 550 in the US in 2001 for $2199, at the time the exchange rate was $.50 making my purchase around $4400. The Australian price at that time was $5199.

And loking at the pricings above us Australians are still getting ripped off!

Sorry Apple Australia I'll buy my next powerbook in the US again and with the Aussie dollar climbing above $.65 and apples reductions I'll save even more.

If I was to buy the 17" now in Australia it is $6299. vs $3299 in the US
After the exchange rate which is now at $.65 it would make it $5022 Australian

That means I can save around $1277 AU
With these kinds of savings it nearly pays for the flight there to buy it. plus having a holiday at the same time.

Apple Australia really should look at their pricing and maybe gain back some market share Seriously who wants to pay $6299 for a laptop! NOT MANY.

[DVD Plaza]

I happily paid $6995 for my 17", and a similar price for my PowerBook 800DVI - these beasts are worth every dollar given what they save me in time, stress, etc.

[rytc]

You're never going to get a dollar to dollar exchange rate between the US and wherever you purchase the computer, also in the US depending where you purchase sales tax will be added to the prices you see online making them more expensive. And as always living on the opposite side of the world brings in extra costs, such as shipping, different power supplies having to be added not to mention the cost of Apple actually setting up shop in the country.

Prices never match up to the changes in the exchange rate either, if they did prices would change daily.

Originally posted by michaelb:
Okay, order up some cheese and a bottle of red:

The pricing in Australia seems to blatantly ignore the improvements in the exchange rate. Based on US prices, the local price of the entry-level 12" should be:

1599 / 0.65 * 1.1 = $2,706 inc GST.

Actual price = $3,099 inc GST.


Not happy Jan.

[michaelb]

Ah, a voice of reason! But I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you on all counts:

You're never going to get a dollar to dollar exchange rate

I'm not talking dollar to dollar, I'm talking differences in the range of several hundred dollars for an entry-level item, pushing the differential to 15-20% for some items.

also in the US depending where you purchase sales tax will be added

I added 10% GST to the total for the Australian price. The comparison is about what Apple charges the purchaser, not what the government gets from the sale. It would not be correct to apply GST on top of, say, the Californian sales tax rate of 8.5% as no purchase anywhere would (or should!) have the double taxation applied.

The comparison is against what the prices should be charged to achieve Australian price parity, given the same unit cost to Apple.

living on the opposite side of the world brings in extra costs, such as shipping

The goods are made in Taiwan. The shipping distance is approximately the same. (And FedEx should charge less as it's going downhill!)

different power supplies

The power supplies are universal ranging 110-240V.

The power cord is different. Expensive power cord!

not to mention the cost of Apple actually setting up shop in the country

They've been here since 1980.

Prices never match up to the changes in the exchange rate either, if they did prices would change daily.

See point one. I'm not asking for decimal percentage fluctuations.



Anyway, I agree with DVD Plaza - the machines are usually worth it whatever the cost. It's just the principle of being ripped off that I don't like.

And as someone who would like the Apple brand to grow here, I think its price points have to improve.

For example, $2799 - $2999 would be more attactive than $3099. Surely it's commonsense that an extra sale generated is better than screwing the customers that can bear it for an extra $100-300?

[�tomic]

Just to rub salt in the wound, Apple lowers the pricing of the 17" by $700

[michaelb]

Okay, there's officially one person I've counted as being influenced by Apple Oz's bone-headed pricing.

I thought I had a new switcher lined up for a PowerBook 12", and with the price cut it'd be a done deal.

Nope, they've been lost to a "better value Centrino-based laptop". Budget limit was $3000, "plus I'd have to add an AirPort card to that".

I'm not really an evangelist, and I believe people should gets what suits them, but it annoys me when people decide purely on price, and Apple Australia does frig all to help the situation.

I'm going to make a list of lost sales that I alone have witnessed, and send it to the dumb schmucks at Frenchs Forest who failed Marketing 101.

[rytc]

I agree that pricing does leave a little to be desired but it certainly has improved just over the last few years in my opinion. A few years ago the difference between what you'd pay in NZ and what you'd pay in the US was literally NZ$2-3000, but now is 'just' several hundred.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by michaelb:
not to mention the cost of Apple actually setting up shop in the country

They've been here since 1980.

[B]

I was more meaning all the costs of actually having a prescence in Oz. i.e running the Apple store, staffing, actually doing some advertising etc. In NZ we don't even have an official Apple prescence, we have a distributor (see www.apple.co.nz ), a few Apple shops and thats about it. Despite their pathetic adverstising (read almost none) we still pay a premium for the product here.

However it does appear to be better priced than in Australia
PB 12" are selling for NZ$3299 which is ~A$$2,890 and US$1,900 USD cf the US$1599 for which it sells for in the US.

Cheers Ry

[rytc]

Originally posted by michaelb:
For example, $2799 - $2999 would be more attactive than $3099. Surely it's commonsense that an extra sale generated is better than screwing the customers that can bear it for an extra $100-300?

I agree with you here, $2999 is certainly perceived to be a lot less than $3099 by the general public.

[solagratia1600]

apple powerbooks don't retain their values very well compared to the the past pbooks. Within 6 months, price drop by $700, crazy.

[Hornet]

Originally posted by michaelb:
Okay, order up some cheese and a bottle of red:

The pricing in Australia seems to blatantly ignore the improvements in the exchange rate. Based on US prices, the local price of the entry-level 12" should be:

1599 / 0.65 * 1.1 = $2,706 inc GST.

Actual price = $3,099 inc GST.


Not happy Jan.

That is simply because apple australia NEVER account for the current exchange rate. When adjusting prices due to this, they always shave off a few cents, to take into account further minor alterations that may happen. So in effect, there is a significant grey market. The only time this has ever worked to our advantage was when the AU$ plummeted hard (to the 50c range), as apple hadn't updated prices - so they were assuming 60's when it was 50's. As a result we got a good deal. Now its changed, as our currency has improved.

Just something we have to put up with, like costlier broadband... but thats another kettle of fish

[dvdnet]

Not to brag folks but my company allows salary sacrificing for notebooks and they added the powerbooks to the list this FBT year which means this PB17 is only costing me, and 20 other converts, around $250/month for 12 months. You do the math.

And given that they allow PDAs to be ordered and we convinced them that the iPod with it's calendar and address book extras is a PDA, I now also have a 30GB iPod for around $40/month for the next 10 months.

How sweet it is, to be working with Linux/Solaris for the past 6 years and now to have it in a portable little piece of machinery with a frontend that puts XP to shame. And yes, I also have an Asus L3 1.7Ghz P4 portable from last years sacrifice which is just there when I need to watch DVDs from different regions.

So folks, see if your company allows salary sacrificing and get one of these puppies through work. It's a sweet deal.

Uber