“Apple raised the prices for hand-held devices in Germany at the start of the year, following a deal between the tech industry and content producers that will benefit a range of creative professionals including musicians, actors and pornographic filmmakers,” Frank Jordans reports for the Associated Press. “The Cupertino, California-based company confirmed in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press that the price increase affecting iPhones and iPads is linked to the new copyright levy.”
“Apple Inc., Samsung and others agreed last month to pay about 5-7 euros ($5.50-$7.70) for each smartphone or tablet imported to Germany,” Jordans reports. “A basic version of iPhone 6s now retails for 744.95 euros ($811.03), compared with 739 euros last year.”
“The agreement matches similar arrangements already in place for other consumer electronics and consumables such as blank CDs,” Jordans reports. “It is based on a 1965 German law that allows consumers to make private copies of sound, images or texts in return for a small surcharge when they buy the device.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here’s yet another a real-life example of what we described last month:
Newsflash: Corporations don’t pay taxes, you do. “Corporate taxes” are simply passed along to the consumer. It’s how the government sneakily double-taxes its citizens. You’re taxed on your income and then again on what’s left via higher prices across the board. — MacDailyNews Take, December 4, 2015