- Saturday, 21 November 2009
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Apple shafts Australians
MAKER OF EXPLODING LAPTOPS APPLE has delivered its customers a right rogering Down Under by jacking up the prices of its new Mac range.
Legions of Aussie Apple fanboys were gagging in their probiotic yoghurt lattes when their favourite religion announced that they would have to pay shedloads more for kit than the rest of the world.
Apple's 'Aussie tax' is a huge price-hike which analysts say will test the loyalty of even the most hardened fanbruce.
The Mac Mini, without a monitor, keyboard or mouse, will retail for AUS$1049 compared with the $849 price tag on the existing model. While the Mac Mini has got some new gubbins under the bonnet, the price hikes are far higher than other countries have seen.
The base 20-inch screen model of Apple's all-in-one consumer desktop, the iMac, will now sell for $1599 which is $600 more than the superseded version.
Apple's new Mac Pro starts at $4499 compared with the existing model which was selling for $3999.
Apple has refused to say why local prices have risen so sharply. Analysts think it is something to do with the falling Aussie dollar which was on a near parity with the US dollar last year before the global financial crisis took hold.
What's that Skip? The Aussie exchange rate has fallen down the well?
However in the US, Apple dropped the price $300 of the new range acknowledging that it had not got a hope of flogging such expensive gear in the middle of a recession.
To be fair to Apple, the US press release announcing the new products was not the one that its tame journalists in America got moist over. In fact all references to Apple being affordable and value for money have been deleted from the Aussie version.
Gone also from the press release are comments from Apple executives Tim Cook and Phil Schiller, touting the lower prices.
Maybe Australian fan boys should just wake up and realise that Apple really hates them and they are probably going to help pay for the cuts in the US market. µ
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I totally adore Nick Farrel's articles, i'm sure they hit the spot perfectly :-)
The scene: Nick Farrell is down the pub...
Nick Farrell: Oh I just got an email, I've got to do an article on the price rise of the new Mac range in Australia.
Barman: Oh right, that could be bad news for Apple, not so many people may buy them.
Nick: Blimey, how did you analyse that so quickly? You're a genius! I wonder whether Apple have done this because they hate Australians?
Barman: Well no Nick, it's just because the Australian dollar is doing really badly at the moment.
Nick: God you're good, I'm going to quote you as an 'analyst'!
old mac mini uk 390 pounds
new mac mini uk 500 pounds
110 pounds = 242 Aus dollars at current exchange rate.
Apple fanboy jonny cage should really engage brain before questioning the figures. Farrel is talking about Aussie sales not UK sales. Why do Apple fanboys seek to argue their case by picking figures out of their asses and insisting that they are true and therefore facts against their beloved company must be wrong?
Why would Apple base their prices on sterling Jonny? Back to school! :)
Perhaps I didn't explain clearly enough, so here it is for the lowest common denominator:
'The Mac Mini, without a monitor, keyboard or mouse, will retail for AUS$1049 compared with the $849 price tag on the existing model. While the Mac Mini has got some new gubbins under the bonnet, THE PRICE HIKES ARE FAR HIGHER THAN OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE SEEN.'
I was stating that we are getting ripped off by Apple in the UK by more than Australia, as per, so the heading/theme of the article is incorrect. We are getting shafted harder.
Do you understand now?
And far from being a fanboy, I think they are overpriced pose machines, hence my comment.
just how Apple work their pricing out for new models in non-US territories. When they release them they look at the then current exchange rate, multiply the price in US$ by this, add local sales taxes and then round up to the next convenient price point.
Take the Mac Mini as an example. US price = $599. US$- UK£=1/1.42 * $599 = £421.83 + VAT (15%) = £485.11. Rounding up to a price point that gives you £499.
For Australia US$- AU$=1.58 * $599 = AU$ 946.42 + GST (10%) = AU$ 1041.06. Rounding up you get AU$ 1049
They can hedge the cost of currency over a period of time, but they can't sustain prices if there's a big shift in rates like that of US$- AU$ (if nothing else there would be a large grey import market in the US of machines destined for Australia).
The Brits'll laugh, and the few yanks that understand English will too. But the Aussies (who know what a billabong is) will just think the author's clueless. :-)
First of all, IMO the skippy pic needs to come out more often. There are simply to many posiblities for hilarious captions to pass it up every time there's a bit of Aussie news.
On to my main point, for those of you who aren't fair dinkum enough to keep up the happenings down under, The Rudd government recently announced a ~42 Billion dollar stimulus package to try to get the economy sailing smoother than Capt' Cook in tub full of criminals.
Part of this package is a $900 up front payout to low-middle income workers (as well as TAFE/University students). It strikes me as quite coincidental that at the same time us mere mortals find ourselves with some extra cash in pocket, Apple suddenly decides that a few extra hundred dollars on the price tag of their kit is justified.
So it seems to me that Apple is trying to take advantage of the economic panic, and it'll probably work, as I'm sure most people would much rather buy themselves a shiny new imported iThingo and send the money overseas to st.Steve than do their part for the country and spend it on local products and services.
Myself however, being the patriot I am, will be doing my part for the country, and will likely invest much of my "Stimulus" payment, on getting "Stimulated" at the new locally owned and operated gentlemen's club that just opened in the CBD.
Good day.
...think how much worse it is in NZ, where the currency has declined even more than the AU$.
NZ$1400 will buy you the entry-level Mac Mini: even using the painfully weak current exchange rate (down from 0.9 AUD to the NZD a few months ago to a little under 0.8 now), you're paying even more cash for the same product in a lower-wage economy.
I don't know what you are complaining about!
Top of the range MacPro:
Monday: 2 x 3.2GHz Quad-core £2,700.99
Today: 2 x 2.93GHz Quad-core £4,579.00
Now that's what I call A PRICE INCREASE!!!
The reason I believe prices are higher is because of Consumer Protections Laws. You see in Australia we have laws that protect consumers, unlike those found in the USA for example. You could also include a few European countries being like Australia as well. New Zealand would also have similar laws to ours as well I believe.
Apple is essentially just recovering the costs associated with having to obey these consumer law's, in my humble opinion.
On another note, someone should tell Apple to stop wasting so much money on advertising here. Australians, don't care about advertising that is clearly targeted at Californians. We don't care how Green or Clean the new Macbook is. The majority of people simply won't buy something if it is twice the cost of something similar. The only types that do so are Audi and BMW drivers etc, Cocks as Jeremy Clarkson would call them on Top Gear.
Just another reason not to buy one of those over-priced, vanity mirrors that is an Apple niche product (Apple itself being a niche product). I think it'd be hilarious watching the diehards cough up the extra dough because they absolutely NEED a Mac. I'll take my semi-problematic PC any day.
... for what effectively is Apple's entry level home computer!