Isn't there also a VAT tax added to UK prices?  That might account for some
of the disparity.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Hutton" <bob_hutton@standardlife.com>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:52 AM
Subject: iTunes


> "Not defending the price at all....just saying that you have to
> look at pricing as a self-contained entity based on the country of
> origin.....not on the world pricing (which will fluctuate daily from
> territory to territory)."
>
> Here's the rub:  in the past, no-one bothered about disparity of pricing
> between different territories.  It wasn't THAT easy to find out what
> things cost abroad, you had to dig around for the info.  I was amazed the
> first time I went to the States that CDs seemed rather cheaper than at
> home and I ended up buying a stack of them.
>
> However in the web-age, because you can access the US version of iTunes
> from the UK, you can see the pricing differences very easily and the fact
> that you can access a website makes it very frustrating that you can't buy
> from it.  FWIW, eMusic is more expensive in the UK as well.
>
> What I would be interested in seeing is how sales of iTunes vary from
> territory to territory.  As I said previously I am just not interested in
> paying 79 pence per track (nor would I pay 99 cents per track if I lived
> in the States).  I think the tracks are over-priced for what you get.
> Incidentally, there also seems to be a bit of a cartel going on with all
> the major online music retailers charging 79p here or 99c in the States.
>
> Does anyone know if iTunes turns a profit?  Or is it just a loss-leader
> for Apple?
>
>
>
> Bob
>
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