71–80 of 98 posts
Also - if you're running a company in EU you can refund overpaid VAT, right? So the only difference is, that currency exchange rate is worst possible.
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Well, don't forget our lovely European regulations. The costs of hiring employees and handling business in Europe is higher than in US if I'm not mistaken. Finally, I'd guess that Apple pays its contractors in USD. So if today 1 USD = 0.8 EUR, Apple needs to consider the fact that tomorrow it may be 1 USD = 0.9 EUR, and the price needs to reflect this scenario as well (they cannot change the price every single month…
The european regulations are cheap compared to the legal risks of operating in the states. So, thats not it. Exchange rate? You keep assuming prices are based on costs. They are not. They are based on profit. So, when the population in a country has more money to spent, or better but, there where the median, rather than the average, income is the highest, the prices will be too. So, its cheap in the US because americ…
You would need to provide some evidence of this since it is completely counter intuitive. Just look at where US treasuries compared with European bonds to compare which countries/continents are viewed as having less legal risks.
Exchange rate? You keep assuming prices are based on costs. They are not. They are based on profit.
You are correct, if French people will pay more for an Apple product and Apple can price discriminate, they will.
So, when the population in a country has more money to spent, or better but, there where the median, rather than the average, income is the highest, the prices will be too.
Well, median income is not the deciding factor for willingness to pay, but would certainly be a contributing factor. Supply and demand equations could be more complex or less complex depending on the situation.
So, its cheap in the US because americans are generally more poor, except for a few that throw the average. Off course, "poor" is a very relative concept in this regard.
This is untrue, proven by the other person's link to wiki.
Income inequality leads to lower prices, and lower margins.
This is untrue also. The price of gold watches and private jet flights are not affected by income inequality, but rather the size of the target segment (wealthy people). A highly polorized economy with 50% really rich vs 50% really poor would by far more jet rides than a country with a distribution toward the center.
Yeah, pretty much because they can . The average buyer doesn't compare USD to EURO - they just see the price in EURO and it seems normal. Keep in mind that the salaries are also similar in both countries USD=EURO (so technically US workers are paid less if you convert). Running a company in the EU is also harder than the US, at least for smaller businesses and startups - that may account for something...
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The european regulations are cheap compared to the legal risks of operating in the states. So, thats not it. Exchange rate? You keep assuming prices are based on costs. They are not. They are based on profit. So, when the population in a country has more money to spent, or better but, there where the median, rather than the average, income is the highest, the prices will be too. So, its cheap in the US because americ…
>The european regulations are cheap compared to the legal risks of operating in the states. Cite?
It presents an odd, and totally unscientific, conundrum: I see people on HN claiming it's very legally risky to do business in the US, and many of the people I work with and socialize with who are in leadership positions here see doing business in the EU as overly regulated and difficult to make a profit at. I suspect both of them have missed the mark. Largely, I suspect that both groups have built their opinions out of news articles or other fractional views - which tend to focus on the most sensational, rather than the most common.
That being said, there are some interesting contrasts to be made, and at least some scholars have indicated a growing convergence between the nature of the two legal systems, at least in some regards.[1]
[1] http://www.law.columbia.edu/center_program/legal_theory/pape...
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The 24-months legislation was introduced only recently. IT companies have had these prices for a long time. It's just that multinational sellers will always ask for the maximum price the specific market can bear, regardless of costs.
Recently? In my book, 10 years is rather not so recent (EU Directive 1999/44/EC came into affect January 2002). http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...
TL;DR: Apple only "felt" this legislation in the last 12 months.
Yeah, pretty much because they can . The average buyer doesn't compare USD to EURO - they just see the price in EURO and it seems normal. Keep in mind that the salaries are also similar in both countries USD=EURO (so technically US workers are paid less if you convert). Running a company in the EU is also harder than the US, at least for smaller businesses and startups - that may account for something...
Not in the UK from it tech and engineeing jobs our pay is much lower compared to SV and housing costs a lot more. The only advatage we have is only paying 12% for NHS etc instead of 20%+ just for health insurance.
In Europe you are forced to give your customer 2 years of warranty on certain products. E.g. computer hardware or electronics. Apple refused to in the past (and still had their crazy EUR prices then). But now, after being dragged to court about it in Italy, and loosing, they at least have a good reason to charge more in Europe. ;) This is the case for most vendors. E.g. my Panasonic GH2 camera did cost a bit more in…
Apple's warranty policies in Europe are still a disgrace, unfortunately. The warranty on a laptop charger is only one year, instead of two, for example. They aren't cheap to replace either (€80 for a simple cable?!). The warranty on an iPod is useless when there's a crack in the screen: defects that have nothing to do with the screen will only be fixed for a hefty price. The advice is to "just buy a new one". In the…
Those judges will usually rule in your favour and Apple might not even send a representative.
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Theoretically, but setting up a business in Greece doesn't get you the same degree of market access to the EU as setting up a business in New Mexico gets you to the US. You still have to deal with a lot of very different sovereign states, languages and mentalities. A Swedish customer is not going to feel much different about dealing with Greek business than dealing with a Russian one. Imagine you want to start a busi…
As a citizen of a country in the EU, I certainly feel different about dealing with a Greek business than a Russian one. For one, I know they are required to provide me with a two year warranty by law. Likewise, there are other community directives that I know Greece was required to implement and that apply to them. I also feel more confident about my ability to influence consumer protection entities in case something…
In general though I agree, (from the UK) I'm happy to buy stuff from EU places; I got my Das Keyboard and a Samsung phone (Galaxy Note, useless, sold on ebay) from Germany because it was cheaper (actually, it's also seemingly impossible to buy the Das anywhere in the UK.)
I also happily buy from the US and Canada though, as they make the funniest T-shirts, and the price ends up similar to custom printed in the UK even after import tax (not the £1.50 tax on a $20 t-shirt, but the £8 royal mail stick on any parcel with tax to pay), because of the exchange rate.
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The european regulations are cheap compared to the legal risks of operating in the states. So, thats not it. Exchange rate? You keep assuming prices are based on costs. They are not. They are based on profit. So, when the population in a country has more money to spent, or better but, there where the median, rather than the average, income is the highest, the prices will be too. So, its cheap in the US because americ…
The european regulations are cheap compared to the legal risks of operating in the states. So, thats not it. You would need to provide some evidence of this since it is completely counter intuitive. Just look at where US treasuries compared with European bonds to compare which countries/continents are viewed as having less legal risks. Exchange rate? You keep assuming prices are based on costs. They are not. They are…
To be fair, you're comparing apples to oranges. Government bond prices reflect the default risk of the government in question. 'Legal risks' include things like getting sued because of perceived defects of your product. Some statistics about that would be interesting, but probably vary greatly by sector: medical devices probably involve lots of ass-covering, whereas something like paper notebooks probably incur fewer lawsuits.
I feel obliged to repost this. Updated prices in Brazil: Air 11": R$2699 -> R$3699 (1849 USD) MBP 13": R$3599 -> R$3999 (2000 USD) New MBP: R$9999 (4500 USD - WHAT??) New MBP maxed out: R$15973 (~8000 USD...) Import tax is 60% for individuals, around 40%, maybe less for importers. $2199 * 1.4 * 2.06 (today's USD, predicted to go Now, what were you saying about being ripped off? [edit] just for kicks I maxed out a Mac…