The news yesterday was that the Aussie dollar closed at 0.90 AUD to the US Dollar. That's the highest it's been in over twenty years. So, with the exchange rate rapidly becoming on-par with the US dollar, why aren't we seeing imported consumer goods; especially electronics; levelling out to the prices we see in the States?
Apple allegedly assumes a fixed exchange rate of 0.60 AUD to the US Dollar. It would seem other manufacturers are similarly ripping off Australian consumers.
Try getting a quote for two identically-specced systems off Dell's website. For every system I tried, I found the prices in Australia were inflated by between two to three times, using the current exchange rate. For an identically-specced PowerEdge 1950, the difference is AU$1,555. Shipping for the server, according to FedEx, will set you back AU$393.
So, even with shipping, it's significantly cheaper to buy electronics from the US than it is to buy here. Next time you're in the market for an iPod or laptop, give the Australian distributors the finger: buy direct from the States.
Comments
Plus duty (a 20kg server box might look a little suss to Customs). Also, Apple and Dell (and Amazon for things other than books and CDs and...) don't ship to Australia, presumably so they can maintain the price disparity.
On the other hand, some other smaller stores do, so you can get, for example, Lenovo laptops from dodgy online stores for ~50% of .au prices (and ~80% of official Lenovo US prices).
Oh, and watch prices immediately go up if the AU dollar ever falls.