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Australia subpoenas Microsoft, Apple to explain why products cost Aussies more
Australian parliamentary officials have launched a formal inquiry which aims to examine why many tech products cost Aussies up to 50 percent more than they do for American consumers. Reportedly, Microsoft, Apple and Adobe are among some of the companies who have been ordered to appear on March 22 in Canberra for questioning.
''I'm firmly of the view that the only way to get answers from some of major IT vendors is to compel them to appear,'' the Sydney Labor MP Ed Husic said, reaffirming parliament’s decision to subpoena American-based multi-nationals to answer for higher-priced goods.
Consumer group Choice claims that when compared to the U.S., Microsoft Office is 34 percent more expensive in Australia, on average. Additionally, Australians pay about 232 percent more for digitally-distributed PC games than Americans, 73 percent more for iTunes purchases and 41 percent more for most computer products.
Apple and Microsoft have reportedly already made submissions to the committee, outlining increased taxes, freight and foreign exchange rates as key reasons for higher prices.
In one clear-cut example of absurdly priced merchandise, Choice noted it would be more economical to employ someone for 46 hours at $21.30 per hour, provide them with round-trip airfare to the U.S. and have them purchase a particular Microsoft-made enterprise software package rather than buying it locally for $8,939 in Australia -- and then have them repeat the process once more. The India Times did not specify what this enterprise-level software package was, however.
"For some time consumers and businesses have been trying to work out why they are paying so much more, particularly for software, where if it's downloaded there is no shipping or handling, or much of a labor cost," Husic told Reuters.
The Register offered some less extraordinary examples though, like $119 AUS for Office 365 Home Premium versus $99 USD in the U.S. and $539 AUS for a 16GB iPad as opposed to $499 USD. The exchange rate of AUS to USD is currently 1 to 1.03, making the currencies relatively equal.
User Comments: 32
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Oz has taxes on ALL blank digital media, too. CDs, HDDs, etc... And there is no 'unlimited' bandwidth. Must really suck to live on an island of exiles.
As opposed to living in a country run by religious nut jobs who don't trust their government enough to actually implement proper gun control. Yeah it really sucks to live in Australia.
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Oz has taxes on ALL blank digital media, too. CDs, HDDs, etc... And there is no 'unlimited' bandwidth. Must really suck to live on an island of exiles.
Last year, Forbes listed Australia as the Wealthiest country (or second Wealthiest depending on the graphs as they had a few) so it must really suck to be living in Australia. Especially when they have a government subpoenaing corporate giants in an attempt to give its citizens a 'fair go' -- it must be a really horrible place to live.
How is life where you live...
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St1ckM4n said:
Last year, Forbes listed Australia as the Wealthiest country (or second Wealthiest depending on the graphs as they had a few) so it must really suck to be living in Australia. Especially when they have a government subpoenaing corporate giants in an attempt to give its citizens a 'fair go' -- it must be a really horrible place to live.How is life where you live...
Various statistics gathered to make a generalised assumption are pretty much that. Actually living here is a completely different story.
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1 person liked this |Darth Shiv said:
Last year, Forbes listed Australia as the Wealthiest country (or second Wealthiest depending on the graphs as they had a few) so it must really suck to be living in Australia. Especially when they have a government subpoenaing corporate giants in an attempt to give its citizens a 'fair go' -- it must be a really horrible place to live.How is life where you live...
Not complaining about life but am complaining about overseas companies charging a higher wholesale price for our country. We'll just bypass the local wholesale.
Wealth, well we have good social welfare and high income tax rates compared to the states so it is easier for non-wealthy people to become wealthy. Personally I'm happy to pay taxes for people to have educational opportunity and not be desperate for basics like food, decent homes and sending their kids to tertiary education. It costs very little up-front money to send a child to tertiary education here.
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Various statistics gathered to make a generalised assumption are pretty much that. Actually living here is a completely different story.
Australia is a great place to live...
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ADHMUZ wrote "Yeah, no worries, Canada is just north of the border eh but things cost more for us too. Fortunately digital distribution doesn't fall into that category but physical goods sure as hell do. And our currency has been on par if not above what the US dollar is worth. Theres always China who will beat any price and ship it for free anywhere in the world if your not happy buying from the States."
Oh spare me, it's not even close to what the UK and Australia have to endure and I should know, I live in Canada.
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It's actually great living in the best country on Earth.Unfortunately we get screwed big time when it comes to digital material.
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