We all knew that prices in Malta are ridiculously high for most things in Malta (I pay USD $65/month for a 4mb connection for example) it is now official. Thanks to Australia’s Commonwealth Bank which has started using the 4gb iPod nano to build an international price comparison index which is similar to the Big Mac index. We can now see that Malta is the 7th most expensive place in the world to buy an iPod and the absolute most expensive in the EU. Things could be worse as Brazilians have to pay about $100 more than us Maltese.

SG Solutions (part of the Gasan Group) have touted with pride that their iPod prices were comparable to those abroad, obviously they were looking at Brazil rather than the UK (which is quite expensive in itself) or the U.S. (one of the cheapest places). Besides the iPod, which is a desirable piece of tech and a commodity item rather than a necessity, it is still indicative of the woes Malta faces. Our wage increases at a rate that’s lower than any other member state whilst the prices here sky rocket.

Fortunately, for three whole months after the January 2008 Euro introduction, 10 importers, yes, 10, have announced they’ll freeze prices. Much to the Nationalist propaganda machine’s delight one might note. Obviously after those three months where the importers would have sold out of the stock they bought at pre Euro prices, they will be at liberty to increase prices and blame the fact they have to purchase everything at EU prices rather than the better prices they currently benefit from.

Don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware of how economies of scale affect prices and that the local market is too small for its benefits to be felt throughout every retail sector. However the average Maltese retailer hates to compete on prices, preferring fewer sales and higher profit margins than vice versa. Obviously when a popular product like the iPod takes off even in the backwater province that is Malta, the importers are rubbing their hands all the way to the bank.

Sticking with the same companies – SG Solutions and Apple, a Macbook Pro laptop is Lm300 more expensive than the price in the US. There are lots of factors at play including transportation, insurance, VAT and that it’s a premium item which will see only a few sales. However with that Lm300 I could fly to NYC to pick one up in person after traipsing round the tourist sites. Personally I’m dreading the Euro changeover as I haven’t gotten used to the exchange rate yet and well everything’s going to go up. That Perugina chocolate bar that is currently sold for Lm00.20? The box says 1€ so guess what the price will be after 1st January?

The full iPod list is as follows :

1. Brazil $369.61
2. Bulgaria $318.60
3. Argentina $317.45
4. Israel $300.80
5. Peru $294.08
6. Chile $294.06
7. Malta $293.83
8. Egypt $269.10
9. Romania $266.60
10. Uruguay $260.00
11. Turkey $256.12
12. Hungary $254.50
13. Azerbaijan $252.11
14. Serbia $249.14
15. Croatia $245.41
16. Czech $242.54
17. Slovakia $234.13
18. Estonia $226.67
19. South Africa $226.60
20. Finland $225.82
21. France $225.82
22. Russia $220.32
23. Norway $220.20
24. Sweden $215.35
25. Belgium $211.62
26. Austria $211.62
27. Italy $211.62
28. Portugal $211.62
29. Ireland $211.62
30. Germany $211.62
31. Netherlands $211.62
32. Denmark $209.26
33. UK $201.92
34. Mexico $201.87
35. Cyprus $201.85
36. Luxembourg $201.12
37. Poland $200.52
38. Philippines $198.39
39. Spain $197.42
40. Greece $196.51
41. Switzerland $195.43
42. India $183.47
43. Malaysia $181.82
44. Korea $180.60
45. New Zealand $180.58
46. China $179.63
47. Pakistan $179.48
48. Australia $175.42
49. Thailand $174.89
50. Canada $169.68
51. Singapore $167.31
52. Taiwan $165.82
53. Japan $154.21
54. U.S. $149.00
55. Hong Kong $148.12

source : Reuters

This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 10:24 am and is filed under Apple, If You Don't Know What It Is... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.