Next we will hear that today is Wednesday. => 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 =>
John Cassidy EU ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
