Slashdot Mirror
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?"
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
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)
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.
Payback is a bitch. That's what you get for sending us Rupert Murdoch.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
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
Wrong. I can buy in the US and get it shipped here and still save anywhere from 10-30%.
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.
Well it's not like WE wanted him either!
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.
we should probably just cancel that free trade agreement then, seeings though it appears worthless.
>>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.
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
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"?
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 population is less than an average sized US city should be producing AAA software titles as well as taking care of all other sectors? Actually, NZ (and Aus) does produce software - they just don't charge Americans more to use it. ;) I understand completely that, in the example above, EA has every right to charge whatever they want to. But pricing gamers out of the store only discourages purchasing and encourages piracy.
If Dead Space 2 costs NZD$23 on the US store, and NZD$89 on the NZ store, for digital-only copies, it's price gouging. No (sane) person would pay $89 for that game, so they now have three choices - buy a physical retail copy (cheaper), buy it from a competing online service (eg, Direct2Drive, Steam, etc, which sell EAs own games cheaper), or pirating it. By the actions taken, EA has guaranteed the one choice people won't make, is to actually buy it directly from EA, the method by which EA would make the most profit even if priced at the same level as competing online services.
Anyhow, I'm getting off-topic. This behaviour is fairly common. Apple used to charge approx 4x as much for songs on the Aus iTunes store to the US version, even when the AUS$ was at parity or even worth more. Songs which cost 99c on the US store cost $3.99 on the Aus store. Thankfully they've largely brought this under control (because most folks took option 3 - just continue pirating songs rather than buying single songs at exorbitant prices). The sooner producers realise the more in-line prices are internationally, the more people will buy them. If Origin set its store prices the same for overseas customers as domestic customers, more overseas customers would use it. Apple saw the logic in this (although hasn't yet in their hardware department). More manufacturers need to follow suit.
"The true measure of a person is how they act when they know they won't get caught." - DSRilk
They sell those, but apparently the law has a different view of what the warranty should be, from the Australian Government
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.
Monstar L
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.
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.
If what comes out of this is an investigation by the ACCC then I will be very glad, as Apple and many other companies actively conspire to try to force you to buy from your regions store, rather than the store that has the best price.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 applies in the way of warranty. The contract is between the consumer and the retailer. In the case of Apple the manufacturer and the retailed are one and the same, this is not always the case.
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.
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.
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.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
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.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
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 willing to accept the highest pharmaceutical costs in the world while letting the drug companies make huge profits.
...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
You guys should of fed him to a dingo when you had the chance.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
Terrible analogy.
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 of an entrance fee could be quite devaluing if you think of it more as "here's a fiver, now jiggle your tits on the dance floor") but it is certainly not the same as discriminating between black/white/brown/yellow/green IMO.
aussie dollar .70 = apple prices 30-40% higher, I accept that.
aussie dollar goes 40% higher, to 1.10
to maintain same profits, apple can drop prices to = USA prices.
But to gain impressive 30% profit growth through zero extra sales, keep prices same.
Look at their financial reports. Apple makes 60%+ more profits due to out of usa sales when converted to USA dollars.
So on nasdaq sure, it looks like wow apple made 60% increase in profits, shares go sky high.
In reality, no sales changes, infact, usa sales dropped, global sales, static.
Its a funny money exchange effect.
End result, apple 'valuation' goes up by multi billions, all due to zero effort, zero work, no work, utterly no finger lifter, same work as Steven Hawking.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
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