“The head of Apple’s highly successful retail division denies the company is slugging local customers more for its products by failing to pass on the benefits of the strong Australian dollar,” Stephen Hutcheon reports for The Age.
Ron Johnson, the senior vice-president for retail, said that, despite the Australian dollar hitting 25-year highs against the US currency, local prices of its product were ‘really fair’ and ‘within reach of most people. In every quarter, we look at the various exchange rates and try to get the product prices as well as we can,’ he said, speaking on the eve of the opening of Apple’s first wholly owned store in Australia, “Hutcheon reports. “Johnson said that, based on the growth in sales figures he has seen, price is ‘clearly not an issue’ for Apple’s Australia customers.”
Hutcheon reports, “However, CommSec’s chief equities economist Craig James said that, in spite of the appreciating Australian dollar, Apple, like many retailers selling imported goods, had not passed on the ‘full benefits you’d expect’ from the realignment in exchange rates.”
Hutcheon reports, “Despite there being near parity in the $US-$A exchange rates since the start of the year, many Apple products in Australia – including iPods, MacBooks and iMac computers – sell for between 15 and 30-plus per cent more than they do in the US.”
Full article here.