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Comment by dagw | Hacker News Reader

Yea, say what you want about Apple, but they seem to be one of the few tech companies that manage to ship all their products in all their configurations to almost all countries.

So many times I read a review for something interesting sounding only to find out that that version isn't sold where I happen to live.

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Yeah, but Apple also charges a hefty premium outside the US. Just look at the prices of Apple products in the US and the EU, and then compare with Samsung/Google/OnePlus.

Whatever makes Apple products more expensive in the EU doesn't appear to apply to anyone else.

That's most likely due to VAT adding a 17-27% tax depending on the country. If you check your receipt, it will show you what the price was before tax.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_value_added_tax...

It's not that. A $800 iPhone and a $900 Samsung (US prices) will often end up costing the the same in the EU

So... sounds about right then?

800 US$ are 700 Euro. With 20% VAT that would be 840€. And then you have additional fees on electronics in some countries.

That's your usual "1-to-1 conversion" (with a sometimes like a "50€ premium").

But surely Apple and Samsung pay the same VAT, so a Samsung phone that costs $900 should sell for more than an iPhone that costs $800 if it was only VAT. Except that doesn't happen. The $800 iPhone costs the same (or more) as the $900 Samsung in Europe. Apple's relative markup compared to Samsung is much higher in Europe than in the US.

Something I've noticed a lot with tech products is that they "cost the same" (in number value) in USD as well as Euros or GBP, which actually makes them cheaper in the US. Take for example, the Awair Element air quality meter:

- Ordering in the US: USD$299[0] (~￡224) - Ordering in the UK: GBP￡299[1] (~$360 USD at the time of writing)

Even including 20% VAT in UK it should only cost around ￡270 by my calculations. Is shipping really that expensive? I find similar issues buying things online in Australia (and that's before expensive shipping, duty, import GST, etc.)

[0]: https://store.getawair.com/products/awair-element [1]: https://ukstore.getawair.com/products/awair-element

I've also seen the following for $ to € price comparisons:

1. Change $ sign to €

2. Add VAT

3. Round up to nearest x49/x99 marketing price.

Apple at times have been guilty of this method in my country at least

Maybe it's related to the warranty? Apple sells AppleCare separately, but it's basically a warranty that's already guaranteed under EU consumer law. So in the EU they should factor this into the price.

I thought the EU mandate was 2 years, and AppleCare+ is 2 additional for a total (in the USA) of 3?

You're right, for most EU countries it's indeed 2 years.

> The Directive offers a 2-year legal guarantee of conformity, from the date that the item was delivered to the consumer. Most countries have implemented a 2-year guarantee of conformity but six countries apply a longer duration, with 4 of them taking into account the expected lifespan of the product.

https://www.evz.de/en/shopping-internet/guarantees-and-warra...

It depends a bit though. Usually the first mandatory year is manufacturer warranty and the second and further years (where applicable) seller warranty only. So Apple is only on the hook for this if you bought from them and even then the burden of proof is on the consumer.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/uk/

Nope. Here in Ireland where they have major offices not only is there no Apple retail but they only offer the Aluminium versions of Apple Watch. Currently no providers offer eSIM for Apple Watch but that shouldn’t stop me buying a better screen.

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