Consumer watchdog CHOICE has attacked Apple on its pricing for its new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, saying that there is a price discrepancy – with GST removed – of up to 14 percent between the outright pricing in Australia compared to the United States.
“The iPhone 5c, the so-called cheap option, will cost Australians AU$739 for the 16GB version and Americans just US$549. After removing the GST from the Australian price and converting the American price to Australian dollars, Australians will pay just under $82, or 14%, more than Americans,” CHOICE said today in a news post.
CHOICE based their figures by making the AUD-USD exchange rate as 93 cents – which, at the time of writing, is what it is currently (according to Google).
You can find the price comparisons between the US outright pricing and Australian outright pricing below. I should note that the Australian outright pricing does include GST.
| Australian Apple Store | US Apple Store | |
| iPhone 5c 16GB | AU$739 | US$549 / AU$590.13 |
| iPhone 5c 32GB | AU$869 | US$649 / AU$697.62 |
| iPhone 5s 16GB | AU$869 | US$649 / AU$697.62 |
| iPhone 5s 32GB | AU$999 | US$749 / AU$805.12 |
| iPhone 5s 64GB | AU$1129 | US$849 / AU$912.61 |
Note: currency rate is current at the time of writing – with the Australian dollar buying 93 US cents.