As the dust is settling over the WWDC smorgasbord of announcements overnight, one little factoid poked its head up as exceptionally pertinant to Aussie gadget-lovers: OS X Lion will be available through the Mac App Store in the States for $US29.99 and locally for $31.99 AUD. Does this signify a restructure of the way Apple calculates the exchange rate for Australians?
There are two schools of thought with this – given that the App Store is a purely digital method of distribution, there’s the thought that many of the arguments behind pricing differences between Australia and the US are irrelevant, and we should actually get the product cheaper given the AUD is above parity. Alternatively, there’s the realisation that no matter what happens, Australia isn’t going to get products for less than the Americans given the size of our population and the fact that even though the exchange rate is good now, the US Dollar is still the global benchmark.
If you consider the second scenario to be most likely, then the pricing of OSX Lion could herald a new pricing structure for all of Apple’s digital content. Since iTunes launched in Australia, songs have been priced at $1.19 compared to $US0.99 – a pricing that made sense five years ago, but is harder to swallow given the current exchange rate. Even on the Mac App store, an app that costs $US29.99 – Pixelmator – costs $36.99 in Australia.
Apple are always tightlipped about everything, so if this is a sign of things to come, don’t expect any confirmation from Cupertino until it has actually happened. It probably won’t happen, but if we all buy iPads and harness some of the magic, maybe – just maybe – we’ll get a better exchange rate for all digital Apple purchases.
Tim
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:26 AMI’m a little surprised the price is so close. At today’s rate, once GST is taken out of the equation the price difference is barely more than $1. Considering Apple is a US company I’d say that’s a very favourable deal once Apple’s foreign exchange costs and exchange rate risk are taken into account.
par
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:33 AM“Since iTunes launched in Australia, songs have been priced at $1.19 compared to $US0.99″
Correction – songs are $1.69 or $2.19 AU
Outrageous rip-off.
CraftyNinja
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:21 PMI agree.
One more thing to point out? You sometimes have multiple listings of the same song listed at different prices.
I bought Song X from Album A for AUD$2.19 while it was listed as a single for AUD$1.69… Now if you search FOR song X and see the entire listing (including various versions, remixes, etc) then that’s fine as you’d just go ahead and buy the cheapest version. BUT, if you hear about a good album, preview the tracks and then figure out that you want Song X, you’ve got no idea that its actually cheaper IN THE SAME STORE.
THIS… is the biggest ripoff.
Shane
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:33 PMI still believe, if they really want to keep it above board and all, they should display US prices and provide an “actual” cost at the check out which relates more to the physcial exchange rate…full stop.
Tim
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 5:12 PMDifferent country, different royalty structure, I suspect.
Phil
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 7:01 PMIn addition to currency exchange rates – different country, very different Tax issues, both sales taxes (GST) and probably various company taxes, so different costs to Apple…
Maybe we should review what these real differences are between countries.
Ballinor
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:55 PMThe new price is very fair. When traveling it’s impossible to get the exact exchange rate at the consumer level. banks charge conversion fees or give you lower rates (up to 5c). Travelex cards charge each time you add to the card and don’t go near currency exchange places with cash only (between 5-20% commission). People who think they have a overseas friendly credit card (amex or wizard master card) think again and look closely at their exchange rates! With gst in the equation this is quite good.
Simon
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 8:39 PMActually, at $31.99 AUD it is cheaper than in the US. The Australian price includes GST, but in the US the sales tax is added at the check out, and depends on what state you live in. So some people in the US would pay US$29.99 + 7.5% tax for example.
If you remove the sales tax from the Australian price, it is AUD$29.08. Cheaper than the US.
Now, all they need to do is change the price of everything else in iTunes and the Mac App Store to the same, and all would be good.