“Australian retail sales expanded at the fastest pace in 19 months in September as consumers went on a buying frenzy for Apple’s new phones, giving a sizable boost to the entire economy in the process,” Wayne Cole reports for Reuters. “Retailers saw sales jump 1.2 percent in September, the biggest gain since February last year and far above forecasts of only a 0.4 percent increase. The ABS noted that electrical and electronic goods retailing surged 9.2 percent in September, “influenced” by the release of the iPhone 6. As a result, sales of household goods overall enjoyed their biggest rise in over 14 years.The ABS noted that electrical and electronic goods retailing surged 9.2 percent in September, ‘influenced’ by the release of the iPhone 6. As a result, sales of household goods overall enjoyed their biggest rise in over 14 years.
The revival in spending for September helped rescue what had been a lackluster quarter for retailers and lifted inflation-adjusted sales by a surprisingly hefty 1.0 percent to a record A$68.5 billion ($59.5 billion).The revival in spending for September helped rescue what had been a lackluster quarter for retailers and lifted inflation-adjusted sales by a surprisingly hefty 1.0 percent to a record A$68.5 billion ($59.5 billion).”
Cole reports, “‘It certainly gets us off to a good start,’ said Michel Blythe, chief economist at Commonwealth Bank. ‘It does suggest whatever post-budget pullback we might have seen on the consumer side is over and demonstrates the ability of new items like the iPhone 6 to kick things along.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Behold, mighty Apple’s revolutionary iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus!
How many of those iPhones sold in Australia went to China?
From the store that I was at on the Friday morning over 600 lined up with probably 400 more people than usual intending to fill orders for China. Could that be 800 iPhones just from one store? With 21 stores in Australia, what could that number be?
Great to see the Aussie economy picking up. Then I thought well that was for a device made by a US company so all that cash is going out of the country. Can’t be good for the Australian economy.
Then I remembered that Apple won’t repatriate the cash due to the tax issue so the money will stay put down under.
No wonder the US balance of payments is so poor. US companies may be competing well in other countries and generates significant amounts of capital but a lot of it will not be returned to the US.
That may be oversimplified but yet another reason for the government to come up with a solution to encourage multinationals to bring earning back to the States.
Just you wait Australia economy… The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 launch is almost here and if you want to see an economic boost, woo boy! (tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock – the clock is ticking for the Samsung effect)
http://bgr.com/2014/10/14/galaxy-note-4-release-date-delay-aus/
You’re so right. 🙂
The economic implosion with the Note 4 will suck like a black hole. You won’t find Android doing you any economic favors world-at-large. The Emperor never had any real clothes, just rags.
Good one, “just rags”… and tattered ones at that!
Australia makes profits on all the Aluminium that goes into our MacBooks and other Apple products.
Not quote! Foreign companies like Alcoa that mine Australian bauxite make profit on the aluminium that goes over, while the government asks for precious little (when compared to the taxes levied on mining companies in most other resource-rich countries).
And yet it’s been impossible to find any 128GB 6 phones from the carriers! I was going to buy mine outright but noticed that a plan was better value this year.
Just go online and buy it. I got my 128Gb iPhone 6 delivered early on launch day by buying direct from the Apple store. While a plan may seem cheaper on the surface, there is no way the carriers are going to take a bath on the the phone on your behalf. You will end up paying more for it one way or another and they will end up making a bigger profit at your expense.