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Pricing: Apple Defies Australian Government

Posted by Unknown on from the higher-prices-down-under dept.

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?"

4 of 440 comments (clear)

  1. Increased costs by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 5, Funny

    It costs Apple extra money to prepare products for the Australian market by turning everything umop apisdn.

  2. Re:Sad part by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    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
  3. Re:Canucks & kiwis get price gouged as well. by xav_jones · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Part of the problem is that they are small markets and as such have less competition. All the people erroneously claiming shipping costs, government taxes and consumer protection laws just don't seem to have a clue about how companies fix their pricing based on what the market will bear (i.e. what they can get away with). And of course, this is the essence of capitalism. In the case of Australia, since the market is smaller there is less competition and some companies -- I'm looking at you Canon -- go to great lengths to keep their fat profit margins that they cannot sustain in other markets.

    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

  4. Re:Free Market? by XDirtypunkX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.