blech:
posted on 2005/01/18 12:13
Silicon. com, despite being based in London, seem to forget that you can't compare US prices to European ones, because US companies never quote sales taxes in their headline prices.
Basing on the last long-term rate of exchange of U.S. dollars to euros (and vice versa)--which is 1.3293 on the spot market, so let's say 1.32--both announced prices of the Mac mini in Europe, 489 euros and 589 euros, respectively, are much too high.
Well, yes, if you convert $500 to euros, it's only EUR 383 at the current exchange rate.
Once you add on 20% VAT (which is about the European average; the UK charges 17.5%, whereas other places charge 22%) then you get to EUR460.
Now, admittedly that means Apple are applying about 8% markup in the EU, but that's way better than it has been in the past, and it's also not as bad as other companies.
Now, I don't like VAT. (The cleverest trick Thatcher pulled was getting away with nearly doubling VAT around 1980, and Major did the same to get out of the poll tax debacle in '92.) You can't claim that Apple is making money from it, though.
At least MacNN, where I found this story, knows about sales tax, despite being American. Sigh.
We hate you all. Yes, especially you. Sod off and DIE