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Comment by mattw2121 | Hacker News Reader

I just bought a light fixture a few days ago. No bulbs came with it. I also just bought a new pair of wireless earbuds, and no power brick came with it. In both cases, it would have been nice, and saved me the extra expense, but a government mandate to force manufacturers to include them?

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That's because you assume that electronics cost the same everywhere outside the U.S but that is certainly not the case. In fact, Brazil is notorious for being protective of their own localindustry and as a result iPhones and other gadgets are more expensive there than anywhere else on earth. As a consumer the least I can expect for these crazy markups is to not have to spend additional money for a charger or a lightning cable. https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/15/yet-again-brazil-has-the-most...

> Brazil is notorious for being protective of their own localindustry and as a result iPhones and other gadgets are more expensive

I used to think that way, but I have been changing my mind over the past 5 years as I started to pay attention to some of Brazil's numbers. Its public structure is huge and expensive to keep in comparison to its overall productivity. That translates into more taxes and a natural overhead to any company willing to pay them in order to run a business legally. In the end of the day, the consumer is paying for all that.

I agree 100%. I'm not expert on the subject, but their economy hasn't been doing all that great as of late and deep reforms are definitely needed!

No, I don't assume that. I assume that if the chargers are included that the base price of the item would be higher. If they included the chargers (or lightbulbs) the cost of item would be higher in Brazil. Is that what you want?

So the solution for protectionism-created problems is... more protectionism?

Brazil seizes iPhones from stores while the EU which has a lot more leverage forces Apple to switch to USB-C altogether. All countries look after their own best interests and use legislation to counter every perceived threat to their local economies. This is the same reason why the Biden administration is banning China from acquiring high end chips from NVIDIA, AMD and other U.S companies. -edit: fixed small typo

I hope Brazil has more local smartphone producers then, because the EU has no significant one (that I am aware of)...

Samsung and Xiaomi are filling in that void in Brazil. Here's a video which offers a bit more insight if you are interested: https://m.facebook.com/uptin/videos/3000-iphone-why-is-apple...

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