Xbox One, PS4 in Australia: Are We Really Being Ripped Off?

[Sora96 17,256]

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Or are this year’s next-gen consoles actually cheaper than ever?

 

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Since Microsoft and Sony announced the prices for their upcoming consoles at E3 2013 there’s been a degree of grumbling over the international disparities.

In Australia, gamers and some members of the press have expressed displeasure at the local price points for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 compared to the US prices. The sentiment, honestly, is not at all surprising. Understandable, even; especially given some of the gouging we’ve suffered in the past. There’s also the fact that 1 Australian Dollar is buying 96 US cents at the time of writing.

These kinds of comparisons rarely tell the full story. Quoted US RRPs don’t include sales tax. Australian RRPs factor in GST. There’s also margins and volume to consider; the US is the third most populated country in the world. Australia doesn’t crack the top 50. But I’m not here to make apologies for the price differences. I, like many of you, would much prefer to pay prices for these consoles more closely aligned with the US ones.

But so, I imagine, would the rest of the world.

 

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 The problem with a lot of the discussion about this matter recently is that it insists Australians are being singled out for this price hike. It’s just not the case, and it’s unhelpful to keep implying it is.

Australia isn't the edge case here, being charged more than the rest of the world. Rather, it’s the US that’s being charged less than the rest of the world, comparatively speaking. Whether that’s "fair" or not is a topic for a different discussion (and considering the population of Europe is considerably larger than that of the US it certainly seems debatable).

However, in comparison to our PAL region peers in the UK and mainland Europe we’re actually better off. Currency values fluctuate, of course, but based on today's conversions both the Xbox One and the PS4 are actually cheaper in Australia than they are in the UK and mainland Europe. The AUD$549 PS4 is 399 Euros (which is about AUD$556 at the time of writing) and £349 in the UK (around AUD$572 at the time of writing). The AUD$599.99 Xbox One is 499.99 Euros (approximately AUD$697 at the time of writing) and £429.99 in the UK (about AUD$705). Australia isn’t being targeted for special mistreatment here.

It’s probably also worth remembering that the PS4 is the cheapest PlayStation console to launch in Australia. Ever. Even before accounting for up to 17 years of inflation. In 2007 we shelled out AUD$999 for a PS3. In 2000, we were slugged AUD$749.95 for a PS2. Does anyone remember the RRP for the original PlayStation, way back in 1995? It was a whopping AUD$699.

 

 

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 The Xbox One is also priced at less than its predecessors. With the exception of the less-than-ideal AUD$499.95 Xbox 360 Core System, both the 20GB Xbox 360 and the Xbox, er, 1(?) launched at AUD$649 (although AUD$150 was quickly hacked off the latter to compete with the PS2).

 

 

Whichever way you skin it, AUD$549 or AUD$599 is a lot money for most punters. I hear that. I need both, and if my wallet had wrists it would’ve already slit them. But with prices on par with Europe and better than they’ve ever been historically in this country, I think we need to add some perspective to our pushback.

 

Thanks to IGN.

[JJForever 75]

Wow. Those prices. Considering you could probably buy a bundle of a Ps1, Ps2 and Ps3 for roughly half the price of a Ps4, it just goes to show how fast time flies. Seems like only yesterday I was opening my first Ps2...

[birthbysleep 95]

In europe the ps4 is also a pretty rop off €399-, aka $513

[EternalReckoning 1,135]

I think sonys price is very reasonable, not to mention this is inititial release so it wont be long before its even cheaper,

 

all the same the exchange rate seems out of whack in the australian situation, what could be going on??

[xxClouDxxmoon 901]

  On 6/14/2013 at 10:06 AM, Sora96 said:

 

 

Thanks to IGN.

Are just about to make a topic for this, and then I seen this topic.

 

firetruck you

[Henne 150]

  On 6/14/2013 at 11:43 AM, birthbysleep said:

In europe the ps4 is also a pretty rop off €399-, aka $513

 

 

I'm happy that it is much cheaper than I thought. But I'll still be waiting for a price drop.

[Nathan Hatton 274]

Companies always seem to price things higher in australia than here in the US and I really don't get it. But hey, it's still cheaper then ever due to the low value of the Yen in Japan right now.

[Amon 4,279]

Things cost more in Australia because of shipping. 

 

For example, those 3 foot thick tungsten reinforced walls on freight trains in Australia just barely keep the Kangaroo gangs from getting to the precious cargo. When the Dingos show up though you're gonna need to take them out with the particle cannon. 

[Oishii 3,987]

I've read up on the price difference between the US and Australia before and I found out about this:

 

 

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The Australian Retailers Association defended high local prices.

Crippling shop-front rentals, higher import prices demanded by local distributors and local wages were major factors cited as to why it remained difficult for major Australian retailers to compete with cheaper online sales, especially offshore.

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The Australian Retailers Association agrees the problem for retailers goes deeper than import tax and wage differences.

ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said Australian retailers paid the second-highest tenancy costs in the world, and often didn't have a free choice of supplier. "You have to ask what's the retailer paying his supplier for his goods in relation to what the retailer in the US pays his supplier", Mr Zimmerman said.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/personal-tech/why-australians-are-paying-higher-prices-for-technology/story-e6frgazf-1226074497752

To what I see it's not so simple as converting USD to AUD, but there is a lot that adds to the price when importing, distributing, to the final price the retailer can sell while making a profit.  I haven't looked at Europe specifically but I can imagine it's a similar case.

[Sora96 17,256]

  On 6/14/2013 at 4:27 PM, Oishii said:

I've read up on the price difference between the US and Australia before and I found out about this:

 

 

Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/personal-tech/why-australians-are-paying-higher-prices-for-technology/story-e6frgazf-1226074497752

To what I see it's not so simple as converting USD to AUD, but there is a lot that adds to the price when importing, distributing, to the final price the retailer can sell while making a profit.  I haven't looked at Europe specifically but I can imagine it's a similar case.

 

Yeah, it's not. As IGN stated the Australian price includes GST while the U.S price doesn't include tax. But the U.S is getting it cheaper than the rest of the world for some reason. It could be Sony's way to make sure Microsoft doesn't dominate the U.S again.