€599 vs $649
 

N900 is available as preorder on both Nokia Germany and USA.

The prices are respectively €599 and $649 (= €441 at today's change).

As long as we have this disparity in prices on different markets, they forget my money.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

There is 100EUR of Mwst in that German price and a 60$ headset in the other, the realistic comparison is about 590$ vs 500E.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

different market, different circumstances - different prices.

you basically always have to add 20% tax to american prices to get comparable values, and it has been that way forever... it's nothing new :)

Re: €599 vs $649
 

And it seems true with everything over there. I was in Berlin last May (visiting from US) and even allowing for the absolutely horrendous exchange rate, the base prices of most items (including locally made Whustof knives and Japanese cameras) was higher than it would be in the US.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

yes, many european countries are high-price countries (direct translation, not sure it fits), but that also means salaries are generally higher.

personally, i'd rather pay higher taxes and have a good social net of benefits, good infrastructure etc. instead of having to deal with US-style turbocapitalism and every-man-for-himself mentality :)

Re: €599 vs $649
 

If only that $ wouldn't want to drop below the bottom of the ocean :) If you bought a N900 from US amazon AND paid the taxes, you'd still be a good 120 euros better off than buying it in Europe, I believe that's the issue of the OP (and many others on the forum :) )

Too bad the N900 isn't already shipping, NAM folks could easily finance their trips to the Summit just by bringing along a few extra units :) :(

Re: €599 vs $649
 

Well it's still 100€ difference.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

These are the facts, get over it. USA is always cheaper than europe especially when it comes to technology items.
You can always do what I did when I got my n800. I had a friend buy the n800 from the USA for me. No taxes added. 200$ with some rebate vs almost double around here.
With the added bonus that you @#$% the system in so many ways :)

Re: €599 vs $649
 

There's no written rule that these shall be the facts. From an european company I would expect something different.

I'm going to USA next January, I may buy it there (although I'm not sure it will be 100% compatible with our networks), but there is also the principal. In other words, in this case I'll prefer to @#$% nokia than the system.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

This isn't in anyway unique to N900 or Nokia. American and european societies are built very differently as far as economics, social security and healthcare are conserned. Due to this there is allways large difference in price parity between USA and EU.

In Europe:

-18-25% VAT
-HIgher social security/national healthcrae/etc payments.
-Higher minium wages
-These don't count just for sale price. Also remember that the guy who delivers it to you door, hands it to you in shop, makes the advertisements in ad agency and so on. They all add extra costs.

(Don't wanna make this political, but i'll just want to say that (IMHO) it's a price worth paying)

Nokia wll propably make same profit no matter where you buy it. You'll just @#$%: the german tax base and your fellow germans not being able to buy it from the states.


Siemens Gigaset SL785 telephone:
136,95€ on Amazon.de vs 149.95$ (102€) Amazon.com


Adidas Goodyear shoes:
69,90€ on Amazon.de vs 49.57$ (34€) Amazon.com

Re: €599 vs $649
 

Umberto, I think you may need to stop buying or consuming anything, not just Nokia products, in Europe then.. good luck surviving.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

If we compare pre-tax prices, it's a bit closer. In Europe, it's €500, which is currently about $735 USD. Conversely, the US pre-tax price of $650 USD is about €445. And the gap would have been closer when these prices were set a few weeks/months ago, before the US Peso collapsed even further... ;)

Re: €599 vs $649
 

Not true. The majority of (real) "made in EU" products are cheaper in EU than in USA (as it should be).

Just an example, RIMOWA suitcases (made in Germany):

Same suitcase 609,00 € (inc. taxes) in Germany, $1195.00 in USA

http://www.markenkoffer.de/oxid.php/...de914.50925786

http://www.luggagepros.com/mpb/IID10...&zmap=IID10212

Re: €599 vs $649
 

No. That is a absurd comment, reality is just the opposite. Pretty much everything is more expensive in Europe.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

yes, while that's true, you are forgetting one thing:
the n900 isn't made in the EU (at least not the ones shipping to the states).

i assumed we were talking about consumer electronics, and these devices tend to be produced in low-wage countries and shipped around the world.
for such globally sold devices, europe's high cost of labour comes into play and translates (by means of the free market) directly into higher prices.
and with items such as the n900, where the manufacturing process most likely is highly automated, the high efficiency of developed countries' workforces isnt a big advantage anymore.

the american buyer of the german suitcases you mentioned on the other hand has to finance the "expensive" workers in germany.
and that's the case with any product produced in high-wage countries. Only if the product quality is really good you will have a chance to compete against cheaper competitors abroad.

if you look at consumer goods, it's usually only the top quality products which are exported, because you can't compete with mediocre products when your costs are ten times that of a local producer.

and if you compare the prices of similar products in different markets which are produced locally everywhere (i.e. no export/import taking place), the high-wage factor comes into play again. it's all about PPP!

to sum it up: globally available products (especially electronics) are always more expensive in the EU, while as domestic high-quality items will be cheaper here than where they are exported to.

here is a nice table in the german wikipedia to illustrate my point, and here a different approach to quantify these differences.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

I'm suprised it took this long for a moaning price comparison thread to be made :rolleyes:

Re: €599 vs $649
 

I'm talking about "made in EU" products. Those are cheaper in Europe. Did you have a chance to compare prices for Italian shoes ? Or French saxophones ? Or German photographic material ? All this products are cheaper in Europe.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

Elsewhere in this group someone said the one sold on nokiausa.com is made in Finland.

Well, my E71 is marked "made in Finland". Don't know if this is referred to the assembly only or what else.

Sorry but this sounds like a justification for what is not anymore than a marketing choice. Europe's cost of labour is somewhere more expensive, somewhere less than in USA (as reported by your linked tables). For sure, cost of labour in Italy is way less expensive than in USA (I know both realities very well), but still: N900 in Italy is 600€ and in USA 650$.

And the expensive researchers at Nokia who projected and produced (then at least assembled) the N900, are not to be financed? Why should the american buyer finance them less than the european?

I consider the N900 an "exported top quality product".

Umberto

Re: €599 vs $649
 

umberto_soprano and where is your E71 assembled? In a factory in Finland? ;)

Re: €599 vs $649
 

Why not? By law, to put a mark "made in Finland", at least the last process of the production chain must have been in Finland. Exactly how my "made in Ireland" Dell was produced / assembled in a factory in Ireland.

Ah, by the way, the E71 comparison between the German/USA nokia sites is €299/$364, which at the net of taxes gives practically the same price.

Re: €599 vs $649
 

@umberto

of course there are differences in europe, as well as the states. what i wrote is no golden rule, it differs from region to region, from country to country.

i believe nokia still produces in finland mainly because they have a certain status as employer there and it wouldn't look to good if they just "abandoned" their home market. just look at the uproar when they closed the fab in germany recently.
the devices produced there are targetet at the european markets, because there the profit margin doesn't suffer too much, but in the states, where people are used to low prices, they have to adapt, and basically do what everyone else is doing when they want to make sales in the states: manufacture in china.
i doubt btw that expansys usa sells devices made in finland. if it's true then it's likely only because the fabs in china currently aren't producing n900s for the american market.

other factors influence the price as well, like brand recognition, customer loyality etc. - that's probably the reason why nokia sells the n900 for 600€ in italy. they probably know italians will love this device and be willing to pay that much for it...


i just wanted to point out the general reasons for the price differences in these markets, and to show that it's not specific to nokia.
if you really think it's unjustified, then don't buy the n900 and tell nokia about it.