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0 pointsKurtz796y ago0 comments

"That’s what Apple usually does: they keep roughly the same digits, and change the currency."

It makes no sense comparing US and EU prices directly, as the former are always shown without VAT (which varies state from state), and in the latter the VAT is included (which is specific to each country).

Also, price will fluctuate even across EU countries, on account of different VAT taxes in the individual member states, so that Apple "keeps the same digits" it is simply not true, as a rule:

iPhone X 64GB USA(no VAT): 999$ https://www.apple.com/us_kiosk_5000012/shop/buy-iphone/iphon...

iPhone X 64GB Italy (VAT 22%): 1189€ https://www.apple.com/it/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-xs

iPhone X 64GB Spain (VAT 21%): 1159€ https://www.apple.com/es/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-xs

The only way to compare them is to remove VAT, for example in the case of Italy:

1189/(1+0.22)= 974€ -->> 1100$ (current exchange rate).

So, there is about 10% difference, which could be (partly) accounted for due to the different warranty requirements in EU.

EDIT: Fixed math

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simonh6y ago

Nice analysis. If you factor in local sales taxes in the US, that 10% difference shrinks or even disappears pretty fast.

I'm afraid 'Apple charges more abroad' is largely a fallacy. Where there is a difference, it's almost always pretty clearly due to local taxes or costs of doing business. This used to really piss off Steve J[1] because he saw it as terribly unfair.

[1] https://www.imore.com/steve-jobs-international-ipad-pricing-...

zapita6y ago

> If you factor in local sales taxes in the US, that 10% difference shrinks or even disappears pretty fast.

If you factor in sales tax on the US side, you also have to factor in VAT on the EU side, since they are equivalent.

So that 10% difference is correct.

mortehu6y ago

European countries often have a minimum 5 year warranty on electronics sold to consumers, while Apple's extended warranty costs more than 10% for just two years, so that's got to be an important factor too. AppleCare is probably better than what's required by law in Europe though.

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Amezarak6y ago

State sales tax ranges from 0-7%, with a few localities adding a few percentage points in top of it.

VAT ranges from 17% to 27%.

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