Weak dollars. Strong pounds. Expensive iPods.

since when we start to care about pricing.. damn it switchers ... u aint even pure blood ... lol

#2 must be having a laugh. Bottom line is, the pound GBP is stronger than before, so if anything, the prices here should be LOWER, not HIGHER. Personally I switched to a Mac while on a business trip in San Francisco, they are actually far, far cheaper even including the CA sales tax than they are in the UK. When I tell people how much I paid for it they're not just surprised, they ask me to bring them one during my next trip ;-D

Justin: D'oh! You're right on the VAT calculation. My bad.

Ah well. Not using the American price was to show that even *with US VAT* included the base price (so before EU VAT) we're paying a premium.

My f4xor1ng of the VAT calculation even lessened the impact.

It's not just iPods though, almost all electronics gets this special treatment. The joys of the European Union, I guess.

@mentalsticks: Hm... Indeed I need to do some research. :) I don't need anything besides basic coverage and dental.

Lars was incorrect in a very important part of his calculation... A 30gb iPod is 249USD in the USA, not 295USD. That is a big difference.

Not only that, but he calculated the VAT amount incorrectly. The tax would be x/269EUR = 19/100. The tax would be 43EUR instead of 51EUR.

269 - 43 = 226EUR (306USD) for a taxless iPod in Europe.

249USD for taxless iPod in USA.

Difference of 57USD which is all profit for Apple.

And btw, I'm not bashing Apple, I think they are a great company, they are just using the weak dollar to make more money off Europe... ripping them off.

Dear Justin,
you are an idiot. Take an econ class instead of running your mouth bashing Apple incorrectly. As Lars correctly pointed out (and Im assuming you didnt bother to read), once taxes and the exchange rate are factored in APPLE IS MAKING THE SAME AMMOUNT OF MONEY. If you have a problem with the VAT (even theough it seems yoiu arent even European), contact your local consul.

@Lars. One other advantage of shopping at airports is that duty free shops dont pay state sales tax I believe.

cheers,
evaD

Dear Europe,

You're getting ripped off by Apple. This article goes against all economic theory and common sense.

If the USD is worth less relative to your own currency, you can purchase more with your currency than you could if the USD was worth more. If the exchange rate is 2GBP=1USD and the iPod costs 100USD in the US and 100GBP in UK, then apple is getting 200USD from you.

There are of course taxes and fees to subtract, but a weak dollar only strengthens AAPL's bottom line.

Dear Europe,

You're getting ripped off by Apple. This article goes against all economic theory and common sense.

If the USD is worth less relative to your own currency, you can purchase more with your currency than you could if the USD was worth more. If the exchange rate is 2GBP=1USD and the iPod costs 100USD in the US and !00GBP in UK, then apple is getting 200USD from you.

There are of course taxes and fees to subtract, but a weak dollar only strengthens AAPL's bottom line.

To non-Dutch readers: you don't have to earn a huge amount to fall in the 42 percent bracket. I'm basically Joe Average.

269 euro (364 dollars) includes our whopping 19 % sales tax. Minus that 51 euro (69 dollars) we're talking about 295 dollars (198,50 euros) for a taxless iPod 30 GB.

Let's say we buy it in New York (average 8 percent sales tax) it would be 295 + 23,60 = 318 dollars for a 'taxed' iPod. Or 234 euros.

Not that big a difference, but still weird, considering no tech goods are assembled in either Europe or the US. So companies could at least respect the (over)parity of the euro/pound to the dollar. The euro has been trading against the dollar 1:1.3 for years now.

@Mentalsticks: I pay 150 euros (200+ dollars) per month on healthcare insurance, pay a similar amount into my pension plan each month AND pay around 42 percent income tax.

I don't know what our government does with the highway robbery that is sales tax, but I pay for all the benefits you mention seperately.

That doesn't mean I don't see the advantages (an expensive operation or pricey medicine won't bankrupt me, since it'll be paid for) but still...

In the Netherlands an ipod 30 gig is 269 euro that's $365 so we pay like 46 percent more.
That isn't just shipping costs that's insane.