And, on a related note, here goes nothing...
http://www.siliconvalley.com/latestheadlines/ci_6927270?nclick_check=1
Somehow I doubt that all $139 of the markup is "value added tax", here's
some sums I did quickly... (All sums done with Google btw because I'm lazy
and it has currency conversion built in, and decimals rounded up to nearest
£ or $):
# globals
let VAT = 17.5%, or 1.175
let $1 = $2.015 (thanks Google)
VAT-inclusive UK price in USD: $536 = £266 according to the article, but
£269 from Google = $542. For the sake of simplicity, let's go with the
article's figure.
£269 (UK sale price for 8gb model) x.85 = £228.65 before VAT = $462.
$536 (UK sale price VAT incl.) - $397 (US sale price) = $139 difference =
£69 difference.
$397 (US sale price) = £197 in GBP (plus VAT).
Now, if the world was fair, we should be being charged £200 (well, £197,
'but what's £3 between friends,' quipped Steve Jobs).
Therefore,
£200 x 1.175 = £235 with VAT, which is what we *should* be being charged for
the 8Gb iPhone. Ha.
So, somewhere, somebody's making £34 to £35 on each sale, if my maths is
correct (I did get Santa to check it twice, but he's notoriously
unreliable). I wonder who gets this magical premium... Maybe it's for Ives'
pension fund?
