Apple subpoenaed in Australia to explain high price of its products

Apple, along with Microsoft and Adobe, has been subpoenaed by the Australian Parliament to explain why it has been charging Australian customers more for certain products than it charges customers in the UK, US and other Asian-Pacific countries. The Inquiry into IT Pricing has been going on since last July, but the three US companies have so far failed to provide specific and adequate reasons as to why their prices are higher in Australia. That all changes with the subpoena issued today, as Apple, Microsoft and Adobe will be legally required to explain their prices.

Ed Husic, the Australian MP overseeing the Inquiry into IT Pricing, told Kotaku that the US companies involved should have been more forthcoming:

These firms should have cooperated and been prepared to be more open and transparent about their pricing approaches... In what's probably the first time anywhere in the world, these IT firms are now being called by the Australian Parliament to explain why they price their products so much higher in Australia compared to the US.

The hearing takes place on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 9:30 AM in Committee Room 1R1, Parliament House, Canberra. It will be open to the public.