Apple is still an INTERNATIONAL company isn't it?

idunnoidunno
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
This is yet another bitch about being an Apple user in Australia.



The cost of Apple in Australia has been bitched about numerous times, only about two weeks ago somebody posted up the conversion rates, and how we are still paying over $1000 more for a dual 2 G5 down here. But my bitch goes further than this...



Firstly, the iTMS... I know, I know, negotiating. soon. wait and see. But I want it now!



Secondly, Sherlock! I wasn't aware of how a good an app this was until I read The Missing Manual - which covered all it's uses.. so I race home to try it out... but everything on it is only US searches. surely the ebay link could take us to ebay Australia.



If Apple plan on having a product line in other countries, surely they could spend a bit more cash and make sure that the produce gives it's foreign owners as much use as it's US owners.



Les T.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by les t

    This is yet another bitch about being an Apple user in Australia.



    hey, it wasn't much better in my five years in canada. and the thing that really irked me was that we were so friggin' close geographically, yet new products would take almost four months to get into the canadian marketplace. sure, you could buy from us houses, but they often used ups (which has a ridiculous cross-border handling fee) or would only ship to canada via fedex's most expensive shipping. once i got a monitor stand for my imac, and while it was US40, after taxes, handling fees, and then customs, i ended up paying US$100.



    by the way, before it sounds like i am laying all the blame at apple's doorstep, i do want to point out that canadian customs had a lot to do with the slowdowns. thanks to canada's law (at the time) preventing non-canadian companies from transacting an online store within their borders, canada was one of the last divisions to actually have an online apple store.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Apple is a very very US-centric company, and worse since Ol' Steve came back. Here in Europe, I feel like living somewhere in Africa in terms of product launches, support and localization.



    - iPhoto printing? Nope

    - iTMS? Nope

    - Free song promotions? buahaha

    - Sherlock? Nope

    - Pricing reflecting the strong Euro? Nope. Worst example is the mini iPod costing 300? (around $360). Even deducing VAT, it costs the equivalent of $305. Back, when the Dollar was stronger than the Euro, Apple of course did not soften the currency disparity, but overcharged still.

    - Mail.app had problems with localized systems from 10.0 to 10.2. Eudora never had any problems like this.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Smircle



    - Pricing reflecting the strong Euro? Nope. Worst example is the mini iPod costing 300? (around $360). Even deducing VAT, it costs the equivalent of $305. Back, when the Dollar was stronger than the Euro, Apple of course did not soften the currency disparity, but overcharged still.



    Let me join the whining. Do you want an 20" iMac, in 21% VAT Europe zone? Apple asks 2065.29? + 433.71? VAT = 2499.00? for this one. The US price is 2199.00$ = 1787.80? (1? = 1.23$). So, where this initial 2065.29? comes from? You have to pay 2065.29? - 1787.80? = 277.49? = 341.31$ more, and this is NOT the VAT. This comes from nowhere .
  • Reply 4 of 8
    gobble gobblegobble gobble Posts: 615member
    Apple prices in India are less than competitive as well. Mostly this is the fault of the Government of India, which continues to tax imported finished computer goods at excessive rates. By contrast, computers which undergo at least minimal assembly in India (as many PCs do) are taxed at much lower rates. And you can imagine how price sensitive a market like India is.



    Plus, Apple products are virtually non-existent in India. It would take some real work to even find a place that sold em'.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    merovingianmerovingian Posts: 436member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by les t

    This is yet another bitch about being an Apple user in Australia.



    ...Until Apple fix their pricing...



    Quote:

    Originally posted by les t

    The cost of Apple in Australia has been bitched about numerous times, only about two weeks ago somebody posted up the conversion rates, and how we are still paying over $1000 more for a dual 2 G5 down here. But my bitch goes further than this...



    That was me. Inspired by a weekly article written by The Barrow in The Australian. The response from that article in that newspaper has created a bit of a lash out at Apple Australia, let me assure you. The following week's article was about the response from readers...



    Quote:

    Originally posted by les t

    Secondly, Sherlock! I wasn't aware of how a good an app this was until I read The Missing Manual - which covered all it's uses.. so I race home to try it out... but everything on it is only US searches. surely the ebay link could take us to ebay Australia.



    You'd think so. Sherlock is pretty much useless, apart from the dictionary and translator features. The rest is just excess baggage, there to remind us that we're those "second class non-US citizens".



    I for one will not be buying a new Mac from Apple or any resellers, until the price is fixed.



    I mean, it blows me away how much the difference is. Surely it doesn't cost A$1000 to ship a 17" PowerBook or G5 Power Mac across the Paficific Ocean by boat or plane... These sorts of imports are done in batches of 100s or 1000s, are they not ? meaning shipping proces per item is minimal?



    This is a monopoly tactic, charging excessively overseas...



    In short, Apple Australia can go and get fscked until their pricing is fixed.



    So, all international Mac users who protest against Apple's pricing, please raise your hand if you want to be involved in a MyDoom-like attack on Apple's website.



    Apple, get a hint!!! Us lowly non-US customers aren't freakin' stupid! m.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    jwri004jwri004 Posts: 626member
    I live outside of the States, but these threads make me yawn....
  • Reply 7 of 8
    idunnoidunno Posts: 645member
    I'm not buying a G5 (which I really really really want) until they have fixed the prices... which hopefully will happen once the (rumoured) revisions are releasded.



    Merovingian - It's good to have an Aussie brother in arms against Apple Australia, a company who for some reason is screwing us for no reason.



    My mate says Apple is lucky to have such a loyal user base, and he is right!



    les.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    merovingianmerovingian Posts: 436member
    Well, the unthinkable happened. I just saw an iPod ad during an episode of the third season of 24 airing in Australia.



    Perhaps Apple do care after all about their international counterparts, (somewhat).



    Let's just see what happens in the coming months... *sigh*. m.
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