Apple announced the iPhone 11 at a lower starting price than the XR last year, at $699 USD. This positioned the 11 closer to high-end-mid-range position. Sounds like a good deal, right?
But that's not the whole story outside the US.
In Singapore, the 64GB iPhone 11 is priced at SGD $1149. That's equivalent to roughly USD $835. Even if you were a tourist and took out the full GST from it, it's still at SGD $1069, which is equivalent to roughly USD $775. That's still HIGHER than even the launch price of the XR last year!! And I'm using Singapore as an example because the country is a free port and open economy, and don't apply tariffs like other countries. Yet the price discrepancy with the original US prices are quite huge.
Apple tends to mark up their prices in countries with highly fluctuating currency, but Singapore dollar is quite stable.
Hong Kong, another free port country, their prices are not any better.
TBH, I'm getting annoyed with this. Sure, the Apple brand carries certain premium, but that premium doesn't simply inflate itself when it goes out from the US. I cannot imagine the prices in countries that put heavy tariffs on imports. The iPhone XR were priced at around $1000 USD in some markets, which is quite hilarious. It's no wonder Apple is losing grip against Samsung in Asia (and even Samsung is having a hard time already). With many of Apple's services are not even available in many Asian countries, Apple literally only uses its brand as the markup. The "ecosystem" advantage is not fully realized.
Interested to hear what others think, especially those from countries with similar situations like UK/EU countries. I can understand a slight premium due to tariffs, etc, but when there shouldn't be one, the huge discrepancy in price is really highly questionable.
But that's not the whole story outside the US.
In Singapore, the 64GB iPhone 11 is priced at SGD $1149. That's equivalent to roughly USD $835. Even if you were a tourist and took out the full GST from it, it's still at SGD $1069, which is equivalent to roughly USD $775. That's still HIGHER than even the launch price of the XR last year!! And I'm using Singapore as an example because the country is a free port and open economy, and don't apply tariffs like other countries. Yet the price discrepancy with the original US prices are quite huge.
Apple tends to mark up their prices in countries with highly fluctuating currency, but Singapore dollar is quite stable.
Hong Kong, another free port country, their prices are not any better.
TBH, I'm getting annoyed with this. Sure, the Apple brand carries certain premium, but that premium doesn't simply inflate itself when it goes out from the US. I cannot imagine the prices in countries that put heavy tariffs on imports. The iPhone XR were priced at around $1000 USD in some markets, which is quite hilarious. It's no wonder Apple is losing grip against Samsung in Asia (and even Samsung is having a hard time already). With many of Apple's services are not even available in many Asian countries, Apple literally only uses its brand as the markup. The "ecosystem" advantage is not fully realized.
Interested to hear what others think, especially those from countries with similar situations like UK/EU countries. I can understand a slight premium due to tariffs, etc, but when there shouldn't be one, the huge discrepancy in price is really highly questionable.
