Jobs reaffirms commitment towards pan-Euro iTunes pricing
Speaking at a largely unpublicized iPhone press conference in Germany this morning, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs reiterated his commitment to charging the same price for iTunes downloads across Europe.
"We think prices should be the same," he told the conference attended by Reuters. "We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store."
Simultaneously, lawyers for Apple were defending the company in Brussels, where the European Commission on Wednesday began holding hearings on the non-uniform pricing of songs across the European iTunes music stores.
The Commission's complaint, which dates back to 2005, stems from the fact that iTunes stores in France and Germany charge 99 euro cents ($1.38), while Britons must pay 79 pence ($1.58).
Thus far, the Commission appears to have placed the majority of blame on the record labels rather than Apple. In April, it charged that Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group were collectively forcing the iPod maker to curtail cross-border access to its digital download service.
According to a Reuters source present at Wednesday's hearing, a representative of Apple said there was "nothing in its contract with Universal obliging it to operate national stores or to set a higher price in countries such as Britain."
Apple, which was represented by iTunes chief Eddy Cue and general counsel Donald Rosenberg, stated that it had made unilateral decisions, in part because doing business in Europe turned out to be more complex than in the United States.
Retuers added that the hearing was originally to have run two days, but EMI and Warner dropped out, so it was abbreviated to one day.
Responding to the original allegations lodged back in April, an Apple spokesman said the company "always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store" that would be accessible by anyone from any member state.
"But we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us," the spokesman said. "We do not believe the company did anything to violate EU law, and we will continue to work with the EU to resolve this matter."
"We think prices should be the same," he told the conference attended by Reuters. "We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store."
Simultaneously, lawyers for Apple were defending the company in Brussels, where the European Commission on Wednesday began holding hearings on the non-uniform pricing of songs across the European iTunes music stores.
The Commission's complaint, which dates back to 2005, stems from the fact that iTunes stores in France and Germany charge 99 euro cents ($1.38), while Britons must pay 79 pence ($1.58).
Thus far, the Commission appears to have placed the majority of blame on the record labels rather than Apple. In April, it charged that Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group were collectively forcing the iPod maker to curtail cross-border access to its digital download service.
According to a Reuters source present at Wednesday's hearing, a representative of Apple said there was "nothing in its contract with Universal obliging it to operate national stores or to set a higher price in countries such as Britain."
Apple, which was represented by iTunes chief Eddy Cue and general counsel Donald Rosenberg, stated that it had made unilateral decisions, in part because doing business in Europe turned out to be more complex than in the United States.
Retuers added that the hearing was originally to have run two days, but EMI and Warner dropped out, so it was abbreviated to one day.
Responding to the original allegations lodged back in April, an Apple spokesman said the company "always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store" that would be accessible by anyone from any member state.
"But we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us," the spokesman said. "We do not believe the company did anything to violate EU law, and we will continue to work with the EU to resolve this matter."
Comments
Does it strike anyone else that it's pretty unfair for the EU to ask a company to charge the same prices for goods across the continent when the Euro hasn't yet been fully adopted? It's pretty hard to do when the Pound (and others) are still openly exchanged against the Euro, not to mention it requires separate processing to handle the different currencies. From that standpoint I can understand why Apple doesn't want people accessing stores outside their home country, at least in the cases of Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.
No its not an unfair thing for the EU to do, it is called the European Single Market and everybody else seems to manage quite fine sticking to it. The whole point of it is that it encourages free trade accross Europe and creates a competetive level playing field, which ultimatley is good for both business and the consumer. Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
Maybe Apple should have uniform pricing. Then it would be a moot point. With a price of $0.99 in the states, and the equivalent of $1.38 in France & Germany and $1.58 in Great Briton doesn't quite seem fair. I understand that currency fluctuates but there has to be a way to bring the pricing closer to one another.
So every minute of every hour you want Apple to update their prices to reflect the currency trade? And you would be fine buying something for $.99 one day and $1.2 the next...then $.96 after that?
Why not just make all countries in the EU adopt the Euro?
Probably about as easy a task.
No its not an unfair thing for the EU to do, it is called the European Single Market and everybody else seems to manage quite fine sticking to it. The whole point of it is that it encourages free trade accross Europe and creates a competetive level playing field, which ultimatley is good for both business and the consumer. Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
Perhaps you better do some research. First of all, the music producers are country dependent. What one country agrees cannot be unilaterally applied to another.
Unfortunately, many erroneously assume that product prices are the same across the European Union. As the linked document show, dead wrong! http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/...5-price_en.pdf and http://www.europakonsument.at/Europa...ng=EN&id=24575
It is getting closer, but they still vary from country to country.
It's like buying CD's - you can purchase them from the other country but there are still slight differences between prices of the same CD according to county's economic standards.
As long as european member states have independent economic structures and different taxes, trying to enforce single price across those different "economic structures", seems actually unfair.
.....I would be actually more interested to see EU court trying to persuade apple to release iPhone across all european countries instead, as i fear that those countries that have more strict rules about sim locking will have to wait a long time to get it.
No its not an unfair thing for the EU to do, it is called the European Single Market and everybody else seems to manage quite fine sticking to it. The whole point of it is that it encourages free trade accross Europe and creates a competetive level playing field, which ultimatley is good for both business and the consumer. Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
Do you think that the wholesale pricing might be different between different countries? It wouldn't make sense for Apple to take a loss in one country or to charge a lot more in another to equalize the prices.
So every minute of every hour you want Apple to update their prices to reflect the currency trade? And you would be fine buying something for $.99 one day and $1.2 the next...then $.96 after that?
Why not just make all countries in the EU adopt the Euro?
Probably about as easy a task.
Well, I didn't really say that, now did I. Just saying that prices should somehow be made more fair for those on the right side of the big pond. But if they want to pay more, and in some cases much more, than $0.99 per song who am I to argue. I live state side and don't pay the inflated rate.
Well, I didn't really say that, now did I. Just saying that prices should somehow be made more fair for those on the right side of the big pond. But if they want to pay more, and in some cases much more, than $0.99 per song who am I to argue. I live state side and don't pay the inflated rate.
If you "didn't really say that" would you care to elaborate exactly what you are implying when you say "prices should be more fair"?
No its not an unfair thing for the EU to do, it is called the European Single Market and everybody else seems to manage quite fine sticking to it. The whole point of it is that it encourages free trade accross Europe and creates a competetive level playing field, which ultimatley is good for both business and the consumer. Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
What "everybody" are you talking about? This is a purely nonsensical assertion. And you only add to that when you make a sweeping claim such as "Steve Jobs is full of BS."
Actually, if anyone is full of BS..... (you can complete the sentence).
(And, if you use Safari, could you please take the trouble to turn on "check spelling as you type" -- it is under "Edit" and "Spelling." Poor spelling only detracts further from what you are trying to say).
Well, I didn't really say that, now did I. Just saying that prices should somehow be made more fair for those on the right side of the big pond. But if they want to pay more, and in some cases much more, than $0.99 per song who am I to argue. I live state side and don't pay the inflated rate.
I think a lot of the difference is the tax, which is included in the price rather than charged separately.
What's the big deal. This isn't milk or beef or some other staple. A dime or two is hardly enough to matter when buying music is so much easier. Even gas stations selling the same gasoline brand around my neighborhood have high and low prices. If you want gas in your tank, you pay the price.
Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
Uh, because he would be losing money for Apple... which is not a good thing.
Isn't there some measure of a nation's wealth that can be applied to setting prices? Are the prices being considered that far off from the country's standard of living? Why the heck does everything Apple tries to do cause so much grief. Apple is frequently becoming the bad guy, the nasty bully on the block. Jeez, if the people don't want to pay the prices, then just rip their own CDs and step off.
What's the big deal. This isn't milk or beef or some other staple. A dime or two is hardly enough to matter when buying music is so much easier. Even gas stations selling the same gasoline brand around my neighborhood have high and low prices. If you want gas in your tank, you pay the price.
It's not really about the price it self as much as about and idea that European citizens are perceived by EU law as members of this same economic area and therefore should have an access to all iTunes stores across the E.U. ...and buy "goods" from those, at this same price. No one claims that the price is too high or too low just that it's different across europe.
And yes i guess there is measure of nations wealth and prices are affected by that measure among other things.
Plus, those island people want their own currency and independence (pounds. stones, rocks or whatever) anyway. So now they have their own pricing.
Apple is/will be the gatekeeper of the British pound? Does the Queen know about it? What a waist of taxes.
...Steve Jobs is full of BS, if he really wanted to charge the same accross Europe then why does he not just bloody do it??
Agreed. If he says he wants to, and the labels are saying they aren't making any such demands, then Apple should just do it. Of course, they should do it in a way that can quickly be switched off again when the labels sue, but at least this way the industry's lies will be exposed for all to see.
I think a lot of the difference is the tax, which is included in the price rather than charged separately.
It's my understanding that different countries in the EU have different VAT rates, even when they share the same currency. Can anyone from Europe confirm or refute my understanding? My only personal experience is with Italy, Denmark and the UK, and of these, only Italy actually uses Euros for currency, so the fact that they have different VAT rates may not mean as much as I think it does.
And as you wrote, JeffDM, in Europe, VAT is included in the posted price, unlike the US where stores are free to include or not include sales tax in the posted price (and most stores choose to not include it.)
It's my understanding that different countries in the EU have different VAT rates, even when they share the same currency. Can anyone from Europe confirm or refute my understanding? My only personal experience is with Italy, Denmark and the UK, and of these, only Italy actually uses Euros for currency, so the fact that they have different VAT rates may not mean as much as I think it does.
Yes, we have different VAT rates (they can be very different), but that's not different from USA where you have a different rate in every state ? isn't it ?
We have the same currency in Europe (Euro) except in UK which still uses their old currency (£).
CDs are not the same price everywhere in Europe, UK is an expensive country, that's why they pay more...
The real problem is that we must be able to order on any EU store, there should be only one store for EU but because of music companies, it's not
This Euro thing is confusing. If Apple is supposed to charge the same price in each country, what about Mac Donalds, BMW, Hennes & Mauritz, Ikea etc.? The salaries are very different, the cost of living (doing business) is very different.
Yes it's true (Mc Donald hasn't the same prices everywhere in Europe, neither Ikea, BMW, Renault...). For example, it's way cheaper in Germany, Spain than in France for many things (cars, music (guitars etc.) etc.).
But we should be able to have only one store. EU people has the right to order everywhere in Europe, it's the Law. With the iTunes Store, there are many stores and we can only order on our country store. That's the problem, not only the price (because it depends also on the £ currency which is not fixed).
But we should be able to have only one store. EU people has the right to order everywhere in Europe, it's the Law. With the iTunes Store, there are many stores and we can only order on our country store. That's the problem, not only the price (because it depends also on the £ currency which is not fixed).
Could not agree more. Some country shops are even better the others. Try looking for iTunes Essentials in the Belgian store => does not exist
Some content I want is only available in the German store. I cant buy it as "your login is only valid for the Belgian store"
I would not give a fiddlers if I were to pay 79 UKct if I could GET the content...which I can as I have about five accounts and each time I am in a new/different country I buy the pre-paid cards and use the address of the Hotel as my residence. Pain in the arse though when you think about it and it could not be further away from the single market for goods and services