News
iPod nano used to compare global currencies
Commonwealth Bank, a large Sydney, Australia-based bank, has created a new method to compare global currencies and purchasing power using the iPod nano. Similar to the Big Mac index launched 20 years ago by The Economist magazine, the CommSec iPod Index looks at pricing of the 2GB iPod nano in U.S. dollars in 26 countries.
“Brazilians pay the most for an iPod, shelling out $327.71, well above second-placed India at $222.27,” reports Reuters. “Canada was the cheapest place to buy a Nano at $144.20, while Australia ranked 19th at $172.36, cheaper than Germany ($192.46), France ($205.80), South Korea ($176.17) and China, where the machine is manufactured. The U.S. was fourth cheapest at $149.”
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1
This may be comparing apples and oranges. When I looked at iPods in Slovakia, the prices were high, but the store personnel explained that they are sold bundled with AppleCare there. This may also be true in the other countries cited.
Posted by Leslie Turek on January 18, 2007 at 11:45 AM (PDT)
2
this is stupid
Posted by jm on January 18, 2007 at 11:51 AM (PDT)
3
OMG… i knew that it was expensive here in Brazil, but not that expensive… there are too many taxes here. the Apple Brasil puts something over the price, though.
Posted by Leonardo Zingano on January 18, 2007 at 12:15 PM (PDT)
4
Very unrealistic… checking prices from Mexican department stores, they range from $190 up to $210 US dollars. This taken from today’s visit to 4 department stores webpages and using today’s exchange rates.
Liverpool. Nano Silver 2GB 2nd gen. $2,240 pesos. (US $203).
Office Depot. Nano Silver 2GB 2nd gen. $2,249 pesos. (USD $204)
Compudabo. Nano 2GB 1st gen. $2,149 pesos. (USD $195)
El Palacio de Hierro. Nano Silver 2GB 2nd gen. $2,099 (USD $190)
Posted by Korpil on January 18, 2007 at 2:40 PM (PDT)
5
There’s no AppleCare plan included.
iPod nanos cost A LOT here in Brazil.
Only a few people have them, compared to other brand’s MP3 players.
What to say about 5.5th generation iPods?? Almost no one has it. It’s expensive like this:
iPod 30GB sells for 1,399.00 Brazilian Reais (R$), which, converted in dollars, is: 655.00 US dollars. It’s very expensive. A new shuffle here sells for 579.00 Brazilian Reais, which, in Dollars, is: 271.00 US dollars.
There you can see how much we pay to use Apple’s products. We just LOVE iPods and technology, but we have to pay a LOT to have it if we want it. I have a 2nd gen. nano, but I didn’t buy it here, though. I bought it in Japan, which makes it a lot more cheaper…
This price that they tell, it’s just for the iPod, there’s no accessories included, neither protection plans.
Just for you to know, an iMac 17” costs 6,999.00 Brazilian Reais, which, converted in US dollars is 3,270.00. So you see, it’s very expensive to have Apple hardware here. As you can see, in the other parts of the world too. Apple has no marketshare because their products are overpriced here. If Apple could have an aggressive price policy here, they would be in heaven, because Brazilians, as I said earlier, love Apple products. Fortunately we are like everyone: We don’t like to pay for overpriced products, so the majority of us stay with ordinary MP4 players and “normal” PCs.
Wake up, Apple! There’s other markets outside the US!!!!
Posted by Fernando on January 18, 2007 at 3:05 PM (PDT)
6
Well, here’s a question - why do Apple produscts cost so much in other countries? It can’t be due to exchange rates, shipping or materials, could it? I don’t really know the details of economics. It’d be nice to see it explained.
Posted by Multimoog on January 18, 2007 at 3:30 PM (PDT)
7
Multimoog: in some cases it’s because of taxes, shipping prices, etc. Mexico should have benefited from a 30% tax reduction effective last year, but since everyone paid the original price, why lower it?
Our problem is that Mexico has established huge taxes for Chinese-made products (like iPods)…
Posted by Korpil on January 19, 2007 at 10:04 AM (PDT)
8
Damn it!! I live in Canada and they are still too expensive for me.
Posted by Sid32 on January 20, 2007 at 7:14 AM (PDT)