In South Africa we are pretty used to monopolies who do not actually care about the consumers. Over the years we have dealt with Telkom and Eskom amongst others, and only recently we have started to see the results of competition in our communication industry. Now if other groups can just also follow suit.Apple products in South Africa are imported by only one company, the Core Group. Core has a its own retail stores (iStores) and they also resell to other retailers like Incredible Connection and Digicape. The service at the iStore in the Waterfront has always been horrendous - for example, walk in a week after a new iPod has been released, and their staff still would know NOTHING about it. Like about a year ago I had this little conversation:
"What do you mean new iPod? With Touch? I think you mean iPhone..." Pathetic.
Today I just checked out what is the price difference of Apple products in South Africa. Here is some examples:
Computers:
Baseline unibody Macbook in SA: R15999
Baseline unibody Macbook in US: R11041 ($1299)
Price difference: 30%
Baseline New iMac 20 inch in SA: R14999
Baseline New iMac 20 inch in US: R10191 ($1199)
Price difference: 33%
8 Core Mac Pro in SA: R40000
8 Core Mac Pro in US: R28050
Price difference:30% (or more than R10000 on a single computer)
iPods:
iPod Nano 16GB in SA: R2699
iPod Nano 16GB in US: R1699 ($199)
Price difference: 38%
iPod Touch 32GB in SA: R5800
iPod Touch 32GB in US: R3400 ($399)
Price difference: 42% !!!!!
Peripherals:
Mini Displayport to DVI adapter in SA: R510
Mini Displayport to DVI adapter in US: R246 ($29)
Price difference: 52%!!!!
Now I know VAT is 14%, which I accept. But as long as there is a sole importer of Apple in SA, we will never ever get decent prices of Apple gear in SA. How can an iPod cost almost double in SA? Shocking!
In the US, Apple is trying to defend its high prices in the current economy, while in SA we pay even more than the rest of the world (Prices for a 8GB Nano accross the world, obviously changes with exchange rate fluctuation:).
1. Brazil $369.61
2. Bulgaria $318.60
3. Argentina $317.45
4. Israel $300.80
5. Peru $294.08
6. Chile $294.06
7. Malta $293.83
8. Egypt $269.10
9. Romania $266.60
10. Uruguay $260.00
11. Turkey $256.12
12. Hungary $254.50
13. Azerbaijan $252.11
14. Serbia $249.14
15. Croatia $245.41
16. Czech $242.54
17. Slovakia $234.13
18. Estonia $226.67
19. South Africa $226.60
20. Finland $225.82
21. France $225.82
22. Russia $220.32
23. Norway $220.20
24. Sweden $215.35
25. Belgium $211.62
26. Austria $211.62
27. Italy $211.62
28. Portugal $211.62
29. Ireland $211.62
30. Germany $211.62
31. Netherlands $211.62
32. Denmark $209.26
33. UK $201.92
34. Mexico $201.87
35. Cyprus $201.85
36. Luxembourg $201.12
37. Poland $200.52
38. Philippines $198.39
39. Spain $197.42
40. Greece $196.51
41. Switzerland $195.43
42. India $183.47
43. Malaysia $181.82
44. Korea $180.60
45. New Zealand $180.58
46. China $179.63
47. Pakistan $179.48
48. Australia $175.42
49. Thailand $174.89
50. Canada $169.68
51. Singapore $167.31
52. Taiwan $165.82
53. Japan $154.21
54. U.S. $149.00
55. Hong Kong $148.12
Source: CommSec, Apple
Over at 2Oceansvibe, Seth has managed to start a small frenzy about the ridiculous service of Core South Africa. Give it a read.
If someone over at Apple is reading this, we in SA are tired of the poor service and high prices that Core forces on us. Please give another group import rights as well, the sales of your products suffer because of their incompetence.
