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For the other devices the prices are fairly close considering exchange rate, VAT and added warranties. So the most likely explanation is the "Powered by up to a

For the other devices the prices are fairly close considering exchange rate, VAT and added warranties. So the most likely explanation is the "Powered by up to a 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor" line. The base model in EMEA will be one of the higher speced ones.

cycomanic 6y ago
I've been wondering about these things for a quite a bit. One thing is that prices in the US often get advertised without VAT, while in Europe it's included and once you factor that in many things are not that different. But in some product areas there is a huge discrepancy, and it's often US-based companies who have very big differences between US and European pricing. I often notice it when US people complain about some price for a European product and I then look up the prices in the US out of surprise, because the US-company competitor is the same price in Europe. It then shows that the US and European prices of the European product are the same, while the US-company product is a third or more cheaper in the US than Europe (I have recently seen this with bicycles and trainers). Not sure if there are some tax or duty type reasons for this?
- Causality1 6y ago
  You can't factor in VAT to make the prices the same because Americans don't pay VAT.
  - stkdump 6y ago
    Americans usually (I think) pay sales tax, unless they are in one of the very few places that doesn't have them. A VAT is just a version of a sales tax that is harder to evade.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      It’s almost impossible to do a straight comparison of taxes since the level of services is buys you from different governments is different, and each government (in American states and European countries) divvy up the taxes in varied ways between income, property, sales, tolls, and probably a whole bunch of other ones.
    - Causality1 6y ago
      Sales tax exists in some states but not all. It's also less than ten percent. In my state the PS5 costs $535 after tax while in the UK it costs $587.
- ksec 6y ago
  Well most of these comparison are not done thoughtfully enough. And in the age of Internet everyone somehow expects pricing to be the same around the world. Price + Import Tax + Sales Tax + Exchange Rate with Hedging + Additional Coverage ( Such as Legal Requirement for Fixing within certain time ). That is basically the formula Apple use for their product pricing. Apple gets the benefits of having economy of scale. For many other products, you will need additional cost for Distribution for each country in Europe, Operation Handling, difference packaging for certain items. All these could easily add up to additional 10-20%. You now end up having a price that is 30 - 40% more expensive than US listed price.
llampx 6y ago
From my comparisons, the base model in the EU is not generally better-specced than the base model in the US, and on top of that, some higher-specced versions never make it to the EU at all.

cycomanic 6y ago

I've been wondering about these things for a quite a bit. One thing is that prices in the US often get advertised without VAT, while in Europe it's included and once you factor that in many things are not that different. But in some product areas there is a huge discrepancy, and it's often US-based companies who have very big differences between US and European pricing. I often notice it when US people complain about some price for a European product and I then look up the prices in the US out of surprise, because the US-company competitor is the same price in Europe. It then shows that the US and European prices of the European product are the same, while the US-company product is a third or more cheaper in the US than Europe (I have recently seen this with bicycles and trainers). Not sure if there are some tax or duty type reasons for this?

Causality1 6y ago
You can't factor in VAT to make the prices the same because Americans don't pay VAT.
- stkdump 6y ago
  Americans usually (I think) pay sales tax, unless they are in one of the very few places that doesn't have them. A VAT is just a version of a sales tax that is harder to evade.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    It’s almost impossible to do a straight comparison of taxes since the level of services is buys you from different governments is different, and each government (in American states and European countries) divvy up the taxes in varied ways between income, property, sales, tolls, and probably a whole bunch of other ones.
  - Causality1 6y ago
    Sales tax exists in some states but not all. It's also less than ten percent. In my state the PS5 costs $535 after tax while in the UK it costs $587.
ksec 6y ago
Well most of these comparison are not done thoughtfully enough. And in the age of Internet everyone somehow expects pricing to be the same around the world. Price + Import Tax + Sales Tax + Exchange Rate with Hedging + Additional Coverage ( Such as Legal Requirement for Fixing within certain time ). That is basically the formula Apple use for their product pricing. Apple gets the benefits of having economy of scale. For many other products, you will need additional cost for Distribution for each country in Europe, Operation Handling, difference packaging for certain items. All these could easily add up to additional 10-20%. You now end up having a price that is 30 - 40% more expensive than US listed price.

llampx 6y ago

From my comparisons, the base model in the EU is not generally better-specced than the base model in the US, and on top of that, some higher-specced versions never make it to the EU at all.