During a recent radio interview with ABC Sydney, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slammed the Cupertino company’s “horrible” prices down under, which force consumers to pay large premiums for its latest devices. Woz’s comments come after several technology giants have come under fire from Australian consumers and its government over price discrimination.
Woz feels that companies like Apple “shouldn’t have boundaries between countries,” and that products should be priced fairly across the board.
While he was keen not to enter a political discussion during his interview, Woz did say that “it’s just horrible” that some countries must pay large premiums for devices when companies are now able to “ship anything anywhere in the world for almost nothing.”
Woz continued:
The large duties in Australia I’m sure I would not favor. Maybe in some countries the people are very happy and feel very well off because of the protections… but I just think it’s horrible.
The Next Web notes that the price of an unlocked iPhone 4S in the United States costs $649, which seems expensive until you consider that consumers must pay A$799 down under. When you convert that figure into U.S. dollars, it quickly turns into $803, which means a large difference of $154.
But fortunately for those in Australia, the government is hoping to crackdown on price discrimination on digital goods, with investigations to determine why Australian customers must pay more than those overseas for devices, software, and music from companies like Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft.
Source: ABC Sydney
Via: The Next Web
