It’s all a bit of a mystery as to how much Apple is going to charge for its “game-changing” iPad in the UK. While CEO Steve Jobs announced US pricing for the entire model line-up at launch, it’s not done the same for international pricing.
It’s obvious why – it’s going to cost more than some people can afford and the firm doesn’t want those punters to lose interest just yet. If it can stoke their interest enough they may part with a bit more cash to get their hands on the snazzy new device when it goes on sale here in early May. Or, it simply hasn’t decided yet. Which seems unlikely.
We do, however have some clues as to the likely pricing in the UK, thanks to an authorised Apple reseller based in Gibraltar which appears to have got a little over-enthusiastic and accidentally leaked the details on its website. It had the basic Wi-fi model at £599, the 3G, 32GB version at £679 and the 3G, 64GB model at £749. After those prices were leaked though, the reseller took prices off and now its website just says UK prices are “tba”.
But the leaked prices look a little dear according to analysis by Vouchercodes. Looking at the mark-up between the US and the UK on previous Apple launches, the firm predicted that Apple will charge £399 for the Wi-fi model, based on an average transatlantic mark-up of 22 per cent.
We always pay a bit more in the UK than our US counterparts for Apple gear, for some inexplicable reason. A Mac Mini selling for $599 in the US should cost us about £390 but is actually priced at £510 here. Apple would no doubt blame import and shipping costs, compliance with EU regulations and the like (if it were to comment on such matters, which it tends not to). It may also talk about the difference in the cost of doing business in the UK compared to the US: Apple wages, offices, retail space in the UK versus the US and so on.
Funny though how Dell is able to sell its Mini 10 Netbook for £199 here, virtually on par with the $299 it prices it at in the US. At the rate at which Apple converts dollar pricing to UK pricing, the Dell Mini 10 would cost an extra £55 in the UK.
Apple has found itself in hot water over this issue in the past, but it’s only really with electronic downloads where the European Commission seems to have taken much interest in the higher prices us Brits must pay for Apple goods. Back in January 2008 the European Commission dropped an antitrust investigation of the company after Apple agreed to cut the price UK music buyers paid when downloading songs from iTunes, to bring the price into line with what it was charging the rest of Europe.
The iPad may be game-changing if Steve Jobs is to be believed, but it’s unlikely Apple will change its game when it comes to the inflated prices us Brits must pay for its devices and computers. Still, it’s surely nice to know that Britain is proportionately more responsible than the US for the $13.5bn in revenue the firm posted in its latest financial quarter!
Jason Stamper is the New Statesman’s technology correspondent and editor of Computer Business Review.
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