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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?"
because it can
A competitor.
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If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
make your own damned iPad. Apple are free to pick their prices.
[FUCK BETA]
Refuse sale and seize all their products under government jurisdiction until they answer. I'm sure that would get their attention.
The sad part is this does not only apply to apple, most US resellers have huge price gouging in Australia specially when it comes to video games.
Why not regulate all adobe product line, no point just doing it to the home addition, same with yearly subscription prices. You might even convince some of the pirates that its worth buying.
Because even the inflated prices are still cheaper than buying from a foreign country and having it shipped?
And Apple very cleverly takes advantage of that fact?
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?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I will be very sadden to see a national inquirer in to this pass vs say..... Scientology, which didnt. The Australian public (those who i am friends with at least) are still blinded mostly by marketing from apple and see it as a trendy thing.
It costs Apple extra money to prepare products for the Australian market by turning everything umop apisdn.
Apparantly they are keen to talk now.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
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)
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 about ~$15,000, the AUS one ~$22,000.
Levi 501 Jeans, US ~$40, AUD ~$100.
Australians are paying through the nose for most goods. I don't understand why - it can't be more expensive to ship China -> AUS than China -> US.
In the UK, a huge price difference can be explained by 20% VAT added to the price, and cost of better consumer laws. Australia seems to have 10% sales tax and someone who knows might comment on consumer protection.
And if one product is too expensive, people are free to buy from competitors.
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.
#DeleteChrome
If Australians think Apple's are too expensive, then just buy something else. It's not like Australians are living in a penal colony or anything.
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?
It seems that Apple usually prices in the local consumer protection laws when pricing their models abroad. For instance, the US, Japan, and Hong Kong dont have any forced warranties of sorts, and all those prices are, when taking taxes and whatnot into account, about the same. However, in places like Europe and Australia where the government pretty much forces companies to provide multi-year warranties with their products companies have to price that into their products. Those laws are nice, but stop pretending they are free. Personally I would rather have the option of either buying the warranty OR taking a chance on my product not breaking(the vast, vast majority of them dont) instead of the government essentially forcing me to buy an extended warranty whether I want it or not. But of course maybe that is just me.
Monstar L
charge what the market can bear.... jesus if people stop buying, they will lower the price.. if not, gouge what you can.
SIMPLE
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 distribution, advertising, etc. (It's not true, but that is their excuse.)
Lets talk about the racism on the Internet - unless you are a Yank, you cannot view even half the content that is advertised.
The number of times I have been referred to a US site from an Australian partner site only to be presented with a page stating that the content I am trying to view is not available in my country.
You want to solve piracy, then think globally. The US of A is not the center of the universe, and the sooner you dumb Yanks realise that the sooner people will start to cooperate with you.
How do they explain the price difference? It should be cheaper here anyhow, our dollar is worth more than the US and we are geographically closer to the Chinese factories.
iPad 2 (16gb, wifi only) is $499 before taxes in USA and it Rs. 29500 ($650 before taxes) in India.
One can return the item if disliked in USA, maybe with a restocking fee. One can not return in India.
The thing about Apple products is that you pay more, but you get a more expensive toy. If they made them cheaper, people wouldn't feel as superior, and might actually start comparing features, build quality, compatibility, extensibility, originality, and so on. As long as Apple distinguishes itself from the competition based on price, iDiots who buy their products can rest secure in the knowledge that they have a much more expensive device than their neighbour. Apple understands this very well.
Is Australia not a free market? If people are willing to pay the premium price, then Apple has priced appropriately!
Lots of Australian Whining. Why don't you guys try making your own shit domestically? Or buy items abroad and import them?
Oh, it's a pain and expensive to import stuff? No kidding.
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.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
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.
I kind of wonder if the Aussie government is putting a tax on Apples goods and expects Apple to just absorb the extra cost and keep the price the same.
Note that "industry standard" Velcro doesn't stick as well with Macs. You want go get the special Mac-compatible Velcro that you can buy from the Apple Store. Sure it costs a bit more, but you're protecting your investment. (Well at least that's what the guy told me when I bought mine.)
It's called price discrimination. 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. This is especially true of pharmaceuticals that are very expensive in rich countries and cheaper in poor countries. Without price discrimination, they may only be profitable in rich countries at a single price.
I'm Australian. Unfortunately we're a bunch of whiners here with an over inflated sense of entitlement; a mentality bred by our incredibly socialistic governments. Our government is completely arrogant, not in the way yours is. Yours is more live and let live; look after yourselves and we'll look after ourselves. Survival of the fittest, work for what you want and shut-up about what we have - nobody cares. But not Australians! Stuff is too expensive. I can't afford my new house and two cars, so people complain that the government needs to spend more tax dollars with subsidies, health care, stupid services like child care. So much of that shit goes to the fat lazy middle class, because that is where the votes are. And they aren't only fat and lazy, they're incredibly stupid. Luckily, they're also spendthrifts, so at least the smart people can make money from them to make up for the tax they have to pay to support their sloth.
Product pricing is very easy. If you think it is too expensive here, buy it somewhere else. Nothing stops us from importing goods. I've bought plenty of apple items overseas. Hell, I buy most of my items overseas because our local prices are way too high because all the workers expect $20 an hour minimum salary. And those outstanding americans even offer us extremely cheap services to help us buy from there. We can get credit cards that are localised for america so they will work in iTunes or amazon etc. Amercans will even buy locally for us and ship them items to us for a very, VERY reasonable fee. The international shipping costs are always lower than say the cost of posting something to my relatives in another state, amazing huh? Go America. You get my money, because australian businesses target the fat and the lazy and so their prices are too high for me. *shrug*
The Mac-compatible Velcro is better because It Just Works!(TM)
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.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
I was under the impression that quite a few products sold in Australia are more expensive than in America(Games, for example).
Is this not true?
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.
It's a land of convicts - Apple's probably having to beef up the prices to pay for the 20% that go missing before they land..
Import duties are higher, VAT is added, currency fluctuations are accounted for by adding a preload cost adder, because they never make less than what they want, but sometimes have extra profit, and because they need to set up a foreign corporation to deal with Australian legal formalities and consumer laws. Not to mention a foreign organization to service all the products. The fact that it isn't double the US price means the US folks are already subsidizing the Oz purchases by giving a higher unit profit per device than Australians are providing to Apple. And Apple has more 3rd party folks who have to be able to purchase the products and make a profit selling at close to Apple's list price. As to Geography it behooves Apple to make the case that even if assembled in China they are US goods, to maintain WTO and most favored trading partner status. Remember that the hardware manufacturing cost is only 25% of the equation all the intellectual property, software, etc. originated elsewhere. Quite frankly the Microwave oven I want to buy if I head over to Europe is "made" in Australia and they charge more for it online in Oz that I can walk in an buy it in a shop in England, discounting the VAT I'll get refunded when I reexport it out of the EU. I the paperwork is less bother. So even your own countrymen charge you guys more than they charge others. Want the same price as the US, then buy as many of each product as the US does. We just get a quantity discount.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
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.
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$94.00 or approximately 50%.
I've rung and asked them why the difference - and got some bulls**t about there being annual price adjustments based on the current currency conversion. The only problem is the last time that AU$ was low enough for that was back in the 1980's.
US companies regularly rip off Australians.
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 politician trying to get a story going due to a fragile ego.
The title of the story is inflammatory as this MP is NOT the Australian Government. Apple was justified in not responding. A member of Parliament has no standing to ask such a question with the expectation of receiving an answer.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
...and just buy a chinese ripoff... http://kotaku.com/5549865/china-rips-off-the-ipad-with-the-iped ... just goes to show how much patents are truly worth
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.
You'll get your knees busted.
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 thing.)
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
...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
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
They are the worlds worst bully, they fold like a pack of cards every time.
Puzzle Daze is now my job
I understand that governments like to strike a pose, but how can they argue that Apple's prices must be lower in Australia, it's not like Apple has a monopoly on all devices, phones, smart pads, etc. Apple has a monopoly on 'cool' (and that's the best monopoly to have, because I believe they can sell turds and ice to penguins if they style the stuff and slap their logo on it, and there will be line ups for the stuff), but having a monopoly on 'cool' is not the same as having monopoly on a product and even if you break the company apart by a silly government legislation, it's not like 'cool' will all of a sudden be picked up by the competitors.
As to having prices in USA being lower than in the rest of the world - well that's not a surprise, nor should it be. USA as a nation mainly exports inflation, but it's exactly that - an export. As long as the inflation is exported outside of the country the prices will not rise much at all inside USA but they are rising outside with all that newly printed money that is printed by foreign central banks to buy all of those US dollars. Eventually this will stop and prices in Australia and elsewhere will fall, because Apple won't be able to sell to anybody in USA, as almost nobody in USA can actually buy their stuff legitimately, because there is almost no production in USA and trade is not about exchanging funny money for products, it's about exchanging products for products.
You can't handle the truth.
It is quite simple, all that is needed is to legalise ''grey imports'', ie goods that are bought in another country and imported. Many companies want to protect their price differential and so refuse to service kit that was not bought in the country - so that is the second part: they must be forced to service goods no matter where they were bought.
What pisses me off about this is that large companies use the difference in prices to their advantage, ie have stuff made in the part of the world where it is cheaper. They then work hard to prevent consumers doing the same thing, ie: buy stuff from where it is cheap. So competition works for companies not the consumer. You have similar things going on with lots of other things, eg clothing. I would be quite happy to pay higher prices for stuff that I buy in the UK if those items were made in the UK (ie labour paid at UK rates).
Globalisation has to be for everyone, not just large companies.
Maybe next they can talk to Steam / Activision about why a $100usd Activision game on steam suddenly drops to $60usd when I bring up the VPN to the California office.
A lot of my friends went to Australia for working holidays, where fruit picking was the only available job to foreigners.
This had clearly led to some confusion among native Australians about which apples grow on trees, and which don't.
Seriously Australia, sort yer shit out. You need to fix up your government that has wacky immigration laws, wacky import laws, and down right idiotic age-classifications for games etc.
Oh, and try to stop them from filtering all your internet.
A special bonza rate of tax for the little Bruces in California. Strewth!
Thats due to VAT tacked onto the price.
Won't help, under the "free trade" agreement beef exports to the USA are illegal until at least 2020.
On a more serious note it's an incredibly stupid and one sided agreement that was produced by putting up a raw deal and a time limit to take it or leave it. For almost no gain we get a pile of stupid copyright and patent restrictions forced on us and what little there is in the US side of the deal isn't being followed. The free trade agreement was sold as the reward Australia was going to get for giving the USA military support in Iraq and Afganistan.
A large part of what they are selling is intellectual property. Without the consent of the government of Australia the IP component would be close to free, no? Since their profit depends on regulation enforced by the Australian government, they should expect to be regulated in other ways too. Or at least engage in dialog.
Having said that, this guy is just an MP. With no more standing than any number of nutcase congressmen in the US. If corporations had to respond to every last wild accusation from them there would be no time left for anything else.
Possibly if Australian enforces a complete ban of Apple's products in their country, maybe then Apple will acknowledge the question. It would take a lot more than even that to get an honest answer to it.
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?
Nice one, fucking yank. Just like all your compatriots trying to get jobs down here ? Nice on dickhead.
If you think ii'm going to stop gouging Australians, then you're holding it the wrong way.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
Uh apple are not a standard, they are under no obligation to play fair. If your citizens are willing to buy at that price then that is the price apple will sell for.
Those are the norms for the market. Markets however operate under the laws of nations. As in "sovereign nations." Which pass any laws they please. Apple would be wise to take the issue seriously. If the Australian government simply negatively influences it's people on the fairness of Apple business practices, sales fall. That's without even passing any laws. In fact if the nation wanted to modify their IP laws and produce Apple clone products with an Apple brand and declare it legal, it could. Apple could only complain to the WTO or something.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Block all sales of Apple hardware in Australia until they provide a reasonable explanation.
Next question.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
You mad bro?
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
Video games and other software also have these price discrepancies as well in Australia, and I'm sure that's not the only market where this is going on. Why is Apple's case special?
Hell, the concept of pricing things differently across regions isn't some strange or novel concept that's hasn't been tried before. Yeah it's stupid, but ultimately companies will charge what the market will bear.
I'm sure droid os phones are available in Australia. If Apple's pricing pisses you off that much buy one of those instead.
Aren't they used to commissary prices?
Nah, you need Monster Velcro (tm) It has directional indicators and gold plating.
With all its money, Apple can just become a small country (physical or virtual), seek representation in the UN, train its military, and then defy Australian government
Be the first country to be free of their crappy products!
Doesn't Australia have a 10% GST / VAT included in the price. So a $999 Macbook Air in the US (where tax is added later) would be $1099 alone with with this built-in tax. Then shipping costs are higher and operational costs are higher as well but at least 1/3 of the $300 "price difference" can be directly explained by the hiddne sales tax which Apple has to pay the gov't.
Apple still often charges 10-20% more in the UK even after you've taken into account VAT. I realise they have to deal with things like paid leave in the UK but it still seems like a rip-off to me. There ought to be an enquiry into this practice, which is widespread - and businesses ought to put forward suggestions on what policy changes it would take to get prices down.
Why does it take an Apple gadget to bring this discussion up? From what I understand, the prices of motorcycles are also much higher than in the US, taking into account the exchange rate. But somehow the world is so in love with their electronic gadgets that it doesn't take much to get the government involved.
I don't understand the furor. This appears to be a case of market economics. Australia has a population of ~25 million people, while the US has a population of ~300 million. The EU, likewise has a population of about 300 million. Simple economy of scale arguments provide a rational answer: Apple's cost per unit to ship products to the US and the EU is going to be lower than its cost per unit shipping to Australia, and those savings (or burdens depending on which side of the world you are in) get passed onto consumers. Not to mention the infrastructure costs of setting up stores, corporate offices, advertising, and a market presence in country with 1/10 of the population of the US or the EU. Which again will all result in a higher cost basis per unit sold in Australia. Finally, higher tax rates on corporations in Australia, higher employee taxes on business, and other regulatory issues are likely to drive up prices. Let's not forget the dreaded GST which makes the end price for consumers even higher.
Rather than whine about it, Australian MP's may consider what they can do to create a more favorable market for high tech products in Australia by providing tax benefits to offset the higher costs of doing business in a small and over regulated market.
I know in Brazil tarriffs on most imported goods are very high (around 80%). Ideally, it's to preserve Brazilian culture and goods. The funny side effect it has is that imported goods are now a luxury item, so people middle-upper class really covet them and buy them anyway.
A sensible person can usually find a very affordable local alternative. Technology is harder though - if the company doesn't have a manufacturing plant there, then there may be few or no alternatives.
I wonder what the whole story is? Are there no tech goods being produced in Australia? Are there high tarriffs or fees, even on internet downloads? Even with a lack of fees, if the government makes it a huge pain in the ass for you to do business there with paperwork, rules, etc., a business is going to have to find a way to compensate for the P.I.T.A factor.
Its all well and good to say more competition. However with the USPTO asleep at the wheel rubber stamping everything, it might increase competition if we were to allow competitors to use apple wank patents with impunity in this country. That would change things up a bit. Should work for a lot of other areas too - like copyright. Game downloaded should cost the same if not allow piracy. It will never happen - welll maybe once USA defaults and china/india run the world
Flame suit on
Now I am not saying that companies are not to some degree price gouging. But how come whenever this conversation comes up I never hear anyone in Australia asking that their wages be set to the same level as America as well? I am no expert, but from the admittedly small bit of research I have done it seems that your average bus driver in Australia earns significantly more than your average bus driver in America (once converted to the same currency of course). When prices are looked at as a percentage of wage the difference may not be as egregious.
Apple products are selling for exactly what they're worth. If they weren't worth that price, they wouldn't be selling.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
I live in Canada...
Microsoft's products are still using an exchange rate from the mid-2000s. It still killed me that I had to shell out a 2-300 hundred more for Visual Studio. Ugh...
Similarly for books (any kind.) Some publishers still use an old exchange rate even on recent printings.
Who cares what Apple charges? Nobody in Australia has to buy Apple products if they don't like the prices; Apple does not force anybody to buy their products. Why is this even a story?
-> Sometimes, you just gotta break free from the shackles of proprietary code.
People and therefore also their governments are behaving like spoiled kids. There is no human right to get cheap Apple products. There are tons of reasons why the price might be higher, and even if the reason is "just because we can" there is no justification for doing anything about it. Stop whining, stop demanding and get on with living your own life as best you can in cooperation with all who want to cooperate.
testing
test2, please I am sorry :)
with import duty, GST, comparatively low volume sales, (compared to just about everywhere else in the world) plus provision of local support etc, most of it dictated by Govt controls and taxes, I would expect there to be a price difference, Currently 10% on a Macbook Air, which is the same rate as our GST(ax). Although you have got to take into account the FACT that in the past the A$1 = US$0.70. And I want to buy lots of DeWalt tools at US prices, and I want to PAY the same price for PETROL as they do in the USA, but it ain't gonna happen. OFFS!
There was an unknown error in the submission.
what? they only have, at best, 10% of market share of the PC world. Apple sets a price, you buy it, or you go to the 90% of other people who are able to offer similar product, many would say better products.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
"Husic last night said Australians should not be “fleeced for the sake of Silicon Valley’s bottom line”. “These companies would simply not do this to consumers in their home countries."
Yeah. Everybody in the US waxes on about how reasonable Apple's prices are. *rolleyes*
Well at least it's not another joke about convicts.
Apple should build its defense around a “swirls the other way” coreolis-strategy. Fewer people in the southern hemisphere.
If Apple price is too high, competitors move in. That is unless Apple has colluded with government to block out competition a la GE. Of course every local market has different market dynamics of supply/demand so insisting the an Apple product should sell for the same price everywhere on the globe adjusted for exchange rate is ridiculous.
Every retail good costs nearly twice as much in Australia. It is obvious.
Firstly the minimum casual wage for an adult in most enterprise bargaining agreement is $22/hr
Secondly hours of opening are highly regulated outside the ACT and Victoria.
Thirdly land prices are extremely high in the major cities
Fourthly rent for mall is extremely high even for the high land prices because councils and state government have banned shops outside them.
Fifthly because of the small markets and lack of competition retails haven't worried about this and have just gouged consumers to cover it.
Of now course the internet and increased overseas travel are introducing real price competition. Consumers are sick of being ripped of and given the uncertain economic conditions are refusing to spend so retail businesses are all going bust. Rather than blaming Apple the MP, presumably a Green who hates paying for Apples but can't bring himself to buy an evil Microsoft PC, should look at how they are running the country.
There is a very simple explanation. Because much of the US sales tax system is state based, advertised prices in the states are usually before sales tax. In Australia, because we have a more unified tax system and more consumer-focused consumer law, prices advertised here include GST. It doesn't explain the whole price difference, but it's the biggest component.
Besides, Apple have never engaged in the "race to the bottom" pricing the rest of the PC industry is hell bent on. They've always priced more predictably and put more into R&D and build quality than most companies. (Yes, there are a few notable models I'd except from the term "build quality" but most Apple products are better built than most general PC products.)
I think this is Parliament interfering in the market unnecessarily because of the incessant whining of Apple haters, who are as bad as (or even worse than) blind fanbois. Imagine Parliament asking BMW or Mercedes why they don't sell at Holden prices. Return to your homes, people, nothing to see here.
funny