Why is Apple 97% more EXPENSIVE here?

In Brazil, people show off their iPhone in their Tinder profile -- it's a status symbol. Meanwhile, it can be cheaper to fly to Miami to buy a MacBook Pro than buy one in Brazil!

So why is Apple so expensive in Brazil? Here are 3 reasons why.

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[allenpradhan]

In 2019, it was cheaper for Indians to go to Dubai and buy an iPhone and bring it back rather than buy it in India. But currently apple products have become much less cheaper and actually relatively cheaper than in US.

[MarcosCapella]

Very well done! Robbers in Brazil will target iPhones specifically. I used to work at a custody court here in Recife, a Brazilian capital city, and we used to deal with many cases of robbers specifically asking for iPhones from people in restaurants in the touristic area of the city. Once the police found a bag full of Android phones thrown over the roof of a gas station and we were able to give all of them back to their owners.
I myself used to have an iPhone 7 and I got robbed at gunpoint in 2018 and ever since I gave up buying iPhones completely and I now prefer Galaxy S series. They’re premium, cheaper and don’t get you in danger.

[lebbeus]

“If you don’t know Xiaomi, you are probably American” hahahah exactly, Americans live in their small bubbles. Xiaomi is extremely popular and of high value with decent quality

[lucassm]

The most revolting part is that Apple now has a factory in Brazil, they assemble the iPhone SE and even the 13's in the country. But the price? Same as if it were imported. They know people accept the prices so don't even bother changing.

[Homer-OJ-Simpson]

A few years ago I heard an NPR report about how many Brazilians travel to US (Florida mostly) just to shop. It makes sense — you can spend $1.5k for flight and hotels but if you’re buying $5k+ in premium goods, you can save more than the $1.5k you spent for flights and hotels

[junsei_buhin]

Motorola is still quite popular in USA, especially in mid to low end segment. It ranked number 3, after Apple and Samsung. However, it is a distant number 3, the market share is just 4.53%. Apple is 57.56% and Samsung 28%.

[Olli-Tech]

And here in Japan you see iPhones everywhere, they are even cheaper than in US. Not a status symbol at all. Crazy world, indeed.

[mobjectivems]

Similarly in India….I spent $300 on a round way trip to Dubai to purchase my iPhone 13 max pro. In the end I saved $200-300 after including the travel costs.

[sentiasatransformasi]

in my country you probably have at least one xiaomi product in your house whether its a phone, air freshener, vacuum cleaner, or anything actually. im surprised that they don't sell their products in the usa

[nanocarbonx]

I’m a little confused, does Samsung not need to pay for import tax, logistics, and security?

[ilcavicchioli]

Uptin, I lived in Argentina for over 12 years and doing a quick comparison with Brazil there are two constants. First, in the last decade or so many Argentines would go the US and do the exact same thing: flock to US and buy an iPhone, Mac, you name it. Some would even buy in bulk to then resell once they've returned on MercadoLibre (South America's eBay). Second, the Peso is so worthless (you've already shown us this, and it's never-ending) with respect to the US Dollar.
The only difference is that there's no such thing as an Apple store in the country (maybe an authorized reseller but no official store), most likely the costs to set up shop (especially the factors you've noticed) would be exorbitant

[josepharrr]

Well at least it's not so expensive for brazilians compared to Vietnamese ppl who has to buy a phone with that devalued money.

[smaronboruah]

It's the same here in India, the taxation is so high that people just fly off to countries like US and Dubai, enjoy a vacation for a few days, buy the phone, and come back. Usually costs just a little bit more to do all that than to buy the phone in India itself....
Although since 2020 we started getting nice sales on the phones during festivals so it's finally getting reasonable to buy it locally

[johnmacasinag]

I thought stealing phones were a thing of the past. Here in my country phone robberies were rampant during the era of Nokia's since phones were rare and was seen as a status symbol. But as technology catch up and became affordable phone robberies became less common and redundant.

[ijazm]

Here in India Apple products cost about 50% more. Developing nations do need to levy import taxes to make companies manufacture locally. Not all countries are oil rich 😢

[ningboflyer]

Apple products in China are also more expensive when compared to the US/HongKong/Japan, but not that crazy as Brazil does. A 256 GB iPhone 13 costs around 1030 USD. But luckily, we can buy them from parallel import vendors for a lower price.

[youdonwannaknowme]

I might have missed something, but if two of the reasons why iPhones are expensive in Brazil are the high tax on imports and complicated logistics, then how come a Samsung of "similar caliber" would still cost less, about half the price of an iPhone, even though it's also imported?

[hackitmaster]

I think the iPhone SE should be kept at the same price as it is in the USA everywhere. I can understand in the case of the other phones(trying to be a “luxury” company) but the se was meant to be the budget option

[ydnar-br]

I live in Fiji, if you happen to travel here to Fiji, you'll see the prices are super high, even though this country is very poor. Come check and you will see.

[Haru_no_ki]

1415 euro or 1490 USD for the base gb IPhone 13 pro max in Romania. S22 ultra base gb is ~200€ cheaper, but I prefer iPhone