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Microsoft has defended its higher costs for products in Australia compared with the US and some other countries, claiming its sometimes large uplift on IT hardware and software is essential because Australia has stronger regulation and higher labour costs than many countries.
In a submission to the current parliamentary inquiry into high ITC costs Down Under, Microsoft says: “There are a range of additional factors that impact pricing in the Australian market, including the relatively high cost of labour and rent; the impact of Australian-specific regulations; the higher costs of marketing, training and advertising; supply chain costs, including transport, distribution and exchange rates.”
The Microsoft submission comes as consumer watchdog Choice takes a completely opposite position, claiming in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry that Australians are paying as much as 50 percent more than Americans for music downloads, software and computer games, despite there being almost no overheads in delivering the online services to Australians.
– CDN notes that Microsoft’s argument has been weakened by changed attitudes at Apple, which once also charged Australian customers significantly more than US buyers, but now increasingly prices products close to the US figures – and in some cases, thanks to currency shifts, has actually undercut them.
