Apple is selling its new Apple TV box for $99 in the U.S., the same price as its predecessor, but in other countries it looks like Apple is taking the opportunity to bring in new users with a discount.
In a selection of online Apple stores across Europe and further afield, the company is marking down the price of Apple TV at the same time that it is introducing the new model, which has a number of new features, including a new 1080p interface (with support for movies at that resolution as well) and iCloud streaming support.
Here are some of the countries where the price is changing, which also underscores how much the price varies from market to market (taking into account each market’s own particular elasticity, and taxes):
In Denmark, the device is selling for 849 Kroner ($150); original retail price of 949 Kroner.
In Australia, the price is now A$109 ($116), down from A$129.
In Norway, it’s now 679 Norwegian Kronor (about $120), down from NOK850.
In Germany, the price is now €109 ($144), down from €119.
There are probably more to update here.
Why the discounts abroad? We asked Horace Dediu, an Apple analyst who first brought the discounts to our attention. In 2011 he highlighted how in two countries — his home turf of Finland and Brazil — Apple TV in fact had the highest premium over the price in the U.S. compared to other Apple products (tables on that below).
It’s unclear how well Apple TV has sold up to now in markets outside the U.S. but the discounts could be one way of drawing in more users to the service in these countries. One market where the price hasn’t gone down is the U.K. — my home turf. Could that be because it’s selling just fine at £99 ($157)?
It could be that these markets were not that receptive to the premiums that Apple had originally set. As Dediu says, “[Apple] might be bringing the price in line with what it should be.”
[HT to @bradt, @magnusromnes, @darthniklas for noting price changes on Twitter]