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From: gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Expensive International Macs
Message-ID: <1990Dec5.002230.13579@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 5 Dec 90 00:17:26 GMT
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
Organization: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Lines: 34

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In article <1990Dec5.094856.3679@csc.anu.oz.au>, pfr654@csc.anu.oz.au writes...
 
> 
>It seems that the reason that Apple is making such large sums of money 
>nowadays is that us foreigners (from Finland, New Zealand, Japan and 
>Australia) are paying about twice as much for the same equipment as 
>are the US customers. Since we account for about 1/2 of the number of boxes 
>sold, then we must account for more than 1/2 of the profit margin.


Not necessarily.  For instance, Apple is an American company and much of its
production is thus oriented towards English.  There is probably some non-zero
amount of money involved in translating sofware, manuals, etc. into French,
Swiss French, German, Swiss German, Italian, Spanish, Icelandic, Hebrew,
Japanese, Arabic, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Turkish, Dutch, Faerose
(Faeroese???), etc.  (BTW there is System Software localized to each of the
above, and possibly more).

This is a trivial example and of course doesn't account for any large
differential between US and foreign prices, but is indicative that there might
possibly be other -- as yet unnamed -- issues involved besides greed.  Or maybe
not.


Robert



============================================================================
= gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu * generic disclaimer: * "It's more fun to =
=            		         * all my opinions are *  compute"         =
=                                * mine                *  -Kraftwerk       =
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