verily on 3/11/01 6:31 AM, our learned friend Michael Bryan Bell residing at [EMAIL PROTECTED] thus spake this wisdom:
snip > > Oooooooh yeah, it's much nicer for me to go visit there than it is for her > family to come here... I think it's at about 47cents on the dollar right now > isn't it? That's about right. Curency exchange fluctuates daily. It is certainly quite expensive for us to visit USA than vice versa. I have made quite a few visits there as a tourist [I have a sister who has lived there for 25 yrs] and during my employment so I am well aware of the cost of living comparisons. But I won't be travelling again for a while. As soon as I hit the USA my $A1000 gives me about $US500! And I can get cheap Business Class airfares courtesy of a Companion Pass!! > I appreciate the currency conversion- so how do other pc manufacturers there > get around it? Ie, a $2500 mac here costs well over $5k there... Why does a > $1k pc here cost just a little over $1k there? I am not much informed about PCs but I suspect that the answer to your question is that of specs. A sub-$A1000 PC here will get you very little. Almost only a toy. A marketing ploy to get you into the shop. You couldn't run Windows XP on one of those. Then you get slugged for all the upgrades and peripherals. Generally speaking, roughly equivalent performance and specs PCs by well known and reliable manufacturers are a bit cheaper than equivalent Macs but not by much. And we all know that if you want such things as video making software, iTunes and the like, which come inbuilt in the Mac, you have pay extra on a PC. Even the high end Macs aren't much dearer than high end PCs. PCs in Australia are sourced from all over the world and thus costs vary. Many are put together here from inported parts and given local name brands. When you say "a $2500 mac here [USA] costs well over $5k there [Australia]..." you are not comparing apples with apples (I have been waiting years to be able to say that!) Yes, your $US2500 Mac does cost over $A5000 here but, as I said before, remember that $US1 roughly converts to $A2, so the price difference is only due to shipping and governemt charges, and the shipping comes mostly from the Mac factory in Singapore. You should not equate US dollar figures with dollar figures of another country's currency. Your implication is that a $US2500 Mac is twice as expensive in Australia as it is in USA. In relative cost/value it is not. Many countries have a monetary unit of the "dollar" but it has no relationship whatever to the $US other than exchange value. OTOH I believe that top end Mac Notebooks are cheaper here than the equivalent spec PC Notebooks. Just out of interest, I was once told by a USA Mac executive who was visiting Apple Australia that Apple maintained equivalent pricing structures in all countries in the local currencies as they were in the USA. Naturally that idea can not be rigidly adhered to because of exchange fluctuations, and all the other charges, but by my observation it holds fairly true. Now I am sure list members elsewhere will point out to me that is wrong! When Apple USA releases new models with new prices that happens here as soon as the new models arrive. I assume we have some Canadian list members and I would be surprised if their pricing structure was vastly different to ours; the $C and $A are approx the same value. Mind you, I can't vouch for the total honesty of all Apple employees! [I am not going to get into pedantic arguments about costs of various combinations and permutations of BTO and add-ons. Nor do I want to start an argument about value for dollar PCs v Macs.] > Not saying there aren't reasons why macs are more expensive there, just that > they are. No, they're not. Another interesting point is that there are no Apple retail stores here as you have now opening in the USA. [Does Apple plan to open such stores in other countries?] Apple Australia does have an online retail facility. Apart from that Macs are sold by licenced retail stores. There was talk a year or two ago that Apple Australia would open a retail store but the independent retailers were able to prevent it. Due to the miniscule market, there is virtually no discounting. I am told there is practically no profit in hardware so there is no room much for discounts. There is of course plenty of profit in the software [just ask Mr Gates]. Certainly most Australian Maccers drool over prices shown on USA Mac retailers web sites. I have purchased hardware and software from USA retailers via the Internet cheaper than I could have bought them here, with good and bad experiences but that is another whole thread. Anyway this has been an interesting thread. Sorry if it has been boring but I though the USA members might find it interesting. Cheers Peter Sealy New South Wales, Australia Any speling errors in this document are due to software bugs -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
