Pricing: Apple Defies Australian Government

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?"

Comments

Re:Increased costs

[BeaverCleaver]

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.

Re:If you don't like it

[mywhitewolf]

we should probably just cancel that free trade agreement then, seeings though it appears worthless.

Re:It's not just apple

[Builder]

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.