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Price war: Top Aussie biz products compared to US

How do we compare?

By Allie Coyne on Feb 12 2013, 5:17PM

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1 of 9

Following yesterday's announcement Microsoft, Adobe and Apple will be forced to attend a public hearing as part of the Government's inquiry into Australian pricing of IT hardware and software, we thought we'd suss out some of the more popular business products in the channel, and compare the local pricing to that in the US. According to a quick and unscientific straw poll of several resellers and disties, we compiled a short list with some interesting results.

Despite the company not being very popular with the Australian channel, Apple's desktop iMac still came out as one of the most popular and in demand products for businesses. The cheapest iMac you can buy, the 21.5in model, comes in at $A1429 in Australia. In the US it would set you back $US1299, equivalent to $A1265.

BlackBerry is trying, and Samsung is definitely making its mark, but the most popular smartphone for business users is still Apple's iPhone. The iPhone 5 is available on a variety of contracts from all the major telcos, but to buy outright the least you will spend is $A799. To buy outright in the US, the cheapest model costs $US649 ($A632).

By most accounts the iPad is not the most productive tool for business use, and many resellers aren't in too much of a hurry to recommend it. But with Windows 8 and the accompanying swathe of tablets still new and requiring some getting used to, the iPad remains the most in demand tablet for business. For the latest generation iPad you can expect to fork out no less than $A539, compared to $US499 ($A485).

According to those we surveyed, HP and its products are still very popular with the channel despite the tumultuous past few years the company has had. Several of its desktop and notebook products were mentioned, specifically small form factor PCs such as the HP Compaq Pro 6300 Microtower PC. It's around $A1029 in Australia, but about $US599 in the US - equal to $A583.

No one particular laptop got a common shout-out, with a lot of those polled naming various products from HP, Dell and Acer, so we've chosen to take a look at the XPS 13. The Dell laptop starts from $A1298 in Australia compared to $US999 ($A974) in the States.

And then there's software. Hardware companies have long argued factors such as distribution, overheads, GST, shipping costs, regulatory requirements under Australian Consumer Law, warranties and economies of scale all contribute to higher prices, which goes some way to explaining the price hikes on hardware. But what justifies the sometimes exorbitant increase in software prices? Vendor representative body the Australian Information Industry Association last year said price differences in digital software were marginal and came down to “market conditions” and “distribution costs". It has also blamed local resellers for charging more. So let's take a look at some software products. Microsoft's Office 2013 Professional edition for 1 PC costs $A599 in Australia, compared to $US399 - equal to $A389 - in the US. For the cloud version, Office 365, Australian pricing for enterprise users starts from $A12.70 per user per month. In the US, prices for the same users start from $US8, or $A7.80.

Software giant Adobe has been specifically targeted by the committee and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network for not explaining why it hikes its Australian prices up, according to ACCAN by as much as 30 percent in some cases. Possible evidence of Adobe's alleged price gouging is how it prices its Creative Suite 6 Premium product in the two regions. In the US buyers can expect to pay around $US1899 ($A1854), but if you're unlucky enough to be in Australia, you're up for around $A3175.

Google Apps for Business is no Microsoft Office, but it is free for businesses with less than 50 users. Otherwise, its a standard $A50/$US50 per user per year, or $A5/$US5 per user per month. Sure, it lacks good technical support and rich features of Apple or Microsoft offerings, but at least you know you're not getting ripped off.

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Price war: Top Aussie biz products compared to US

How do we compare?

Linked Articles

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TSMC says US tariffs have some impact but AI demand robust

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