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European Pismo Availability

The following is the responses we got from European readers about Pismo availability:

Norway

Just a short update on powerbook prices in Norway - as a reseller I am able to sell the powerbook 400mhz for US$ 2675 - compared to US apple stores 2499 - so the difference before sales taxes are not 1000 $ - but 200 $ - however if you add sales tax the price is 3290 us$ here - we do have a 23 % sales tax - however I know this is the case in the states 2 - varying from state to state - I seem to remember that california had a salex tas of 7 % - oregon none ...? now the problem here is not mainly the price (espcially not for this product) - but availibality - I would love it if apple norway could start taking in american keyboard machines as most people that work professionally anyway would benefit from that (& I use it myself) . do note also that due to marked situation it is especially in the powerbook segment you get these enourmous price differences - I guess the whole norwegian powerbook marked would be top 600-1000 machines a year ...(thats apple )

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General
Read "your" report on the new PowerBooks and their current situation in Europe, as your reader Oeivind Idsoe claims it to be. I beg to differ, with several points.

1) They are expected to be available within a week's time. Not mid-March. This information comes both from Apple Europe and the two major distributors Ingram Micro and Scribona Computer Products.

2) He then reports on some outrageously bizarre 1000+ dollars in price differences. I assure you, this isn't the case.

US price for Powerbook 400                $2 499
Swedish price for Powerbook 400       $2 699
 
US price for Powerbook 500                $3 499
Swedish price for Powerbook 500       $3 750

There has always been a gap between US and European prices and it will always be. However, claiming $1 450 up from US prices is very incorrect.

Maybe it is what you wrote in the end, that something is really out of whack with Norway's price structure. Although I strongly doubt it...

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Germany

Here in Germany the official Apple store prices for the new PB are DM 5999,-- and 8499,--. That's USD 2585,-- and 3663,-- w/o VAT. So that's pretty close to the US pricing and you always have to calculate some sort of localization costs. Dispite of this, Apple Europe has same pricing in all countries as they are calculated in Euro, but each country then calculates in local currency. So if in Norway PB prices are so high, it is not that Apple raised prices in Europe in general.

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Denmark

The price of the powerbook has also gone up here in Denmark but it is for the old one. None of the POS has any information on the new new pb. The prices here are about $3200 and $4500. I think it is because of the strong dollar. About when you (I!) can buy it here in Denmark, IŽll let you know as soon I have spoken with Apple Denmark on Monday.

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United Kingdom

I checked the price of the new PowerBooks on the AppleStore UK, and the price difference, before tax, is +10% vs the US. Add 17.5% for VAT, and it's a pretty big difference.

It's the European sales tax that adds a lot to the cost (I just checked the Swedish Apple Store, and I think the sales tax there is 25%!). It seems Swedish list price is also roughly 10% more than the US.

This price difference is actually on the low side; other companies charge significantly more (I checked one PC manufacturer, and the price difference US to UK before tax was 18%).

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Switzerland

In answer to the article about prices in Norway, the prices for the three standard configurations in Switzerland as seen on the Apple Store are:

Model         Price in Switzerland    US price    difference
                 CHF        USD         USD
 400 MHz        4799       2957        2499        +18%
 500 Mhz        6749       4159        3499        +19%
 500 MHz plus	7751       4777        3997        +20%

The Swiss prices include a 6.5% value added tax. Prices were converted from CHF to USD using today's rate as provided by www.oanda.com.

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France

Here are the prices from Applestore France for the PISMO:

3250 $
4580 $
5180 $

The above include VAT 20.6% (sales tax).

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