Apple likes to keep it simple when it comes to pricing. After all why would they complicate things when they benefit from over pricing their equipment in Europe?
Not for the first, or last time, Europeans are getting screwed over with Apple’s near $1 = €1 = £1 pricing model.
$1 is actually worth €0.70 and £0.61. The result? A massive price discrepancy.
Apple’s persistence to price things as “equally” as possible means that Europeans will be over paying for the iPad 2 this Friday.
The entry level iPad 2 (WiFi only) costs $499 if you were to purchase in the US. The same exact device costs Europeans €479. €479 in dollars is $679. This means that Europeans are paying approximately $200 (or €140) more than their American counterparts. That’s a 30% hike!
UK citizens are just as badly ripped off and they will also see approximately 30% price hike in the cost of buying an iPad 2.
The same 16GB model in the UK costs £399 or $653 in dollars. This equates to a difference of $154 (or £94).
The iPad 2 goes on sale in Europe on Friday the 25th. Be prepared to get ripped off.
Update: An error was made in the above pricing comparisons. While Europe and the UK will pay more than those purchasing an iPad 2; it’s not as bad as initially reported. The above Euro and Sterling prices included VAT added to the base price while the US prices don’t include VAT.
If you remove the VAT from the 16GB unit, it will result in approximately a $60 difference between the US and Euro prices. This equates to approximately 12% difference.
