Prices for just about *everything* in Europe are higher than in the U.S. One factor is VAT (Value Added Tax), but it's not the only factor. The U.K. has a 20% VAT rate, for example, and that's certainly not the highest in Europe. Sales tax rates in the U.S. range from 0% in a few states to around half the U.K. rate in a few cities, particularly those with recently built professional sports stadiums. :-)
Price in the U.K. for an Apple iPad 2 (16GB, no 3G): £399 Price in the U.S. for an Apple iPad 2 (16GB, no 3G): $499 (excluding sales tax, which could be 0%) U.K. price converted into U.S. Dollars (inter-bank exchange rate, as I write this): $622.95 U.S. price with an 8% sales tax: $538.92 Percentage increase in U.K. price v. U.S. price (at 8% sales tax rate): 15.6% Percentage increase in U.K. price v. U.S. price (at 0% sales tax rate): 24.8% iPads are identical around the world, with the possible exception of the electric power plug packed inside the box. Note that I'm not including the 5% rebate you get in the U.S. if you're using your Discover Card and Shop Discover. In fact, it's cheaper to use my particular U.S.-issued credit card in Singapore than it is to use a Singapore-issued credit card for typical purchases, absent a special store promotion in Singapore. My Australian colleagues in particular are amazed at the favorable terms for U.S. credit cards compared to theirs. Then there's the price of an automobile in Singapore compared to the U.S. The difference is astonishing, even if the car is built in Japan. The primary reason is that there are extremely high automobile taxes in Singapore, but the taxes don't fully explain the difference. The U.S. is an extremely big market with the best prices in the world across the vast range of products, in my experience as a shopper. My wife concurs, and her friends in the office gave her a long shopping list before her most recent U.S. trip. :-) As another example, my favorite Italian food products average about half the price in the U.S. compared to Singapore, and Singapore compares pretty favorably to other Asian countries in that regard. Even printer ink cartridges made in Singapore are more expensive to buy in Singapore than they are in the U.S. Medical care is a notable exception. German-made suitcases are another, perhaps less notable. (The U.S. has a significant luggage tariff.) Of course, there's an easy way for companies to enjoy U.S. prices: relocate to the U.S. :-) I'm kind of amazed that international price differences are a surprise to anyone. Heck, there are huge price differences *within* the U.S. And I'm pretty darn sure your employer, if it operates internationally, doesn't charge exactly the same price in every country. The U.S., by and large, is a shopper's paradise. Hong Kong is pretty good, too. The best and the brightest minds -- financial services/banking, anyone? -- are constantly figuring out ways to "optimize" prices. Including many of your employers. That's not a value judgment, that's just fact. For the record, IBM has held the line on z/OS since...forever? z/OS debuted in 2000 (with a price cut from OS/390), and I don't recall any other z/OS price increases since then. (Somebody can correct me on that if necessary, but my point still stands even if.) I do recall numerous z/OS price decreases -- including AEWLC introduced just last year. Nobody else has held the line like that -- much more than held the line. Just to pick another random example, oil has approximately quadrupled in price in the past 12 years. z/OS has a much lower *nominal* price (never mind real price) than it did 12 years ago. I never like price increases -- I don't like paying more for cans of tomato, guava, or electricity either -- but perspective is very important in understanding the world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples Resident Enterprise Architect (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: timothy.sipp...@us.ibm.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
